President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s promise to boost local energy sources is anchored on private capital, so the government is courting investors to beef up the country’s natural gas and renewable energy industries amid a looming energy crisis.
This is evident in Marcos’ first year in office, when the government clarified that full foreign ownership of renewable energy projects is allowed under the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 (Republic Act No. 9513) and greenlighted 291 contracts for solar power farms all over the country.
It is scrambling to find possible incentives for petroleum service contractors by reviewing a provision in the Oil Exploration and Development Act of 1972 (Presidential Decree No. 87), enacted during the late president Ferdinand Marcos Sr.’s regime. PD No. 87 is said to have discouraged investors because of the required 60-40 net earnings sharing between the Philippine government and a service contractor.
There are plans to build over a hundred power plants around the country, 48 of which are expected to start operation by year end. Of the total, Luzon takes the lion’s share with 74, while Visayas and Mindanao have 16 and 23, respectively. All are expected to be private sector-initiated.
VERA Files looked at how Marcos fared in his promises in the energy and environment sectors:
