THE Senate last Monday, May 31, 2021, approved on third and final reading a bill that seeks to further strengthen the ‘Joint Congressional Energy Commission’ (JCEC) and remove its expiration period.
Voting 22-0-0, the Senate passed Senate Bill No. (SBN) 2220, also known as the JCEC Enhancement Act, which is aimed at enhancing the powers and functions of the commission, further amending for the purpose Sec. 62 of Republic Act No 9136, otherwise known as the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001.
Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy and sponsor of the measure said SBN 2220 would institutionalize the JCEC as a permanent oversight body tasked with ensuring the full implementation of landmark energy laws.
JCEC shall exercise oversight functions in the implementation of all existing energy laws, including Presidential Decree No. (PDN) 87 or the “Oil Exploration and Development Act of 1972”, PDN 972 or the “Coal Development Act of 1976”, and Republic Act (RA) No. 8479 or the Downstream Oil Industry Deregulation Act of 1998.
Among the functions of the commission under SBN 2220 are the determination of inherent weakness in the law, recommend the necessary remedial legislation or executive measures and perform other duties and functions as may be necessary to attain its objectives.
According to Gatchalian, JCEC was established under Section 62 of RA 9136 and was originally called as the Joint Congressional Power Commission (JCPC).
Composed of 14 members from both chambers of Congress, Gatchalian said the JCPC was originally constituted by law for a period of ten years and was extended for an additional ten years by Joint Resolution No. 1, series of 2011, up to June 26, 2021.
Gatchalian said JCEC has convened for at least 69 hearings and meetings during the 12th to 18th congresses and oversaw the full implementation of three out of the seven laws under its jurisdiction: The Electric Cooperatives Emergency and Resiliency Fund Act, the Anti-Obstruction of Power Lines Act and the Murang Kuryente Act.
The Commission has also taken an active role in defending and promoting the rights of power consumers by investigating issues such as the exorbitant bill shock experienced by MERALCO customers during the Luzon-wide ECQ in 2020.
SBN 2220 seeks to expand the JCEC’s oversight jurisdiction to include existing energy laws without their own respective oversight bodies, such as the Oil Exploration and Development Act of 1972 and the Downstream Oil Industry Deregulation Act of 1998.
“The JCEC has played and will continue to play an important role in achieving our shared vision of greater Philippine energy stability, sustainability, and savings,” he added.
In a separate interview last June 6, 2021, Gatchalian said that the scheduled hearing of his committee on Wednesday, June 9, 2021, would seek to find remedies to the perennial and cyclical power outages in the country, especially those under the Luzon grid.
Only last week, some parts of Luzon island had to suffer “rotating power interruptions” allegedly due to shortage in power supply reserve.
‘We can’t rule out collusion’
“Tuwing Summer na lang kinakabahan tayo. Tuwing Summer na lang naghi-hearing tayo para maiwasan ang brownout pero hindi dapat ganito eh, Gatchalian said.
“Dapat meron tayong long term solutions at meron tayong mga solusyon na iniimplement, may mga bagay na iniimplementa natin ngayon para hindi natin maranasan ang mga bagay na ito.
“So dalawang bagay ang objective natin. Una, solusyon at pangalawa ay long-term na plano ng pamahalaan para maiwasan natin ito,” he added.
Gatchalian, in the same interview, also lashed out Department of Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi for allegedly not removing red tape in the industry that has hobbled the ability of new industry players to put up new power sources as soon as possible.
“The laws (against red tape) is not being implemented,” Gatchalian noted.
“(M) eron dalawang batas pa nga para sa Energy Sector. Una, ang Energy One Stop Shop. Pangalawa yung Ease of Doing Business, parehong hindi iniimplementa.
“Yung Energy One Stop Shop yun ang isang batas para lang sa Energy pero nakita namin hindi iniimplementa so kung hindi iniimplementa yun, talagang hindi mo mararamdaman yung paglutas ng red tape at ganun din po ang sinasabi ng power players. Sabi ng private sector, sayang ang batas dahil andyan na pero hindi iniimplementa,” the solon said.
He noted that for new power industry players, it takes them no less than 2 years just to get all the necessary clearances and a minimum of 4 years to actually build a power plant.
Gatchalian also did not also rule out that the recent rotational brownouts may have been part of a “collusion” by the energy players, to justify an increase in electricity rates, a ruse they tried to use in the summer of 2019 and last year but which got the ire of Pres. Duterte.
“Sa akin, ayoko i-rule out yan, ayoko i-rule out na walang sabwatan na nangyari dahil dapat tignan natin ang lahat…
“… Bigyan ko lang kayo ng halimbawa, nung May 31 2021, pumalo ng P19 per kwh ang presyo sa merkado. Noong June 1, pumalo ng P18. So ang ibig sabihin, ito yung May 31 at saka June 1 dito tayo nagkaroon ng red alert ng brownout.
“Ibig sabihin makikita natin dito, tuwing red alert, tuwing magkakaroon ng brownout sisipa ang presyo ng kuryente sa mercado…Sigurado, ipapasa yan sa consumer. At the end tayo ang magbabayad diyan,” Gathchalian explained further.
He noted that when the supply situation ‘normalized’ last June 5 amidst call for a congressional investigation, the spot price of electricity went down to only P4.20 per kilowatt hour.
“Tignan mo ngayon June 5, nung nagno-normalize na, bumaba na siya uli sa normal na level P4.20 per kwh.
“So makikita natin, ang laki ng ibinaba, from P19 to P4, so makikita natin na tuwing magkukulang ng kuryente sigurado tataas ang presyo at kapag tumaas ang presyo sigurado may makikinabang diyan,” Gatchalian stressed.