Business group seeks amendments to Epira

The Philippines may lose potential investments to neighboring countries if it does not address crucial investor concerns, particularly the high electricity rates, according to the Japanese  Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Philippines Inc. (JCCIPI).

In an interview with the Inquirer, JCCIPI vice president Nobuo Fujii said that although the Philippines remained one of the preferred destinations of Japanese companies, the government must ensure that the business environment remained investor-friendly.

Fujii specifically stressed the need for changes in some of the provisions in the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira) of 2001.

“The original aim of the Epira is to lower power costs. Government agencies, such as the Energy Regulatory Commission, must go back to the main purpose of the law and implement it,” Fujii told the Inquirer.

The JCCIPI has also proposed to the Department of Energy and the ERC the implementation of a uniform power rate within an economic or industrial zone through the so-called “early aggregation scheme.”

Fujii explained that under this scheme, even small- and medium-sized locators would also be able to benefit from competitive power rates that large power users might be enjoying under the open access scheme.

Under the open access mechanism, large power users, or those that consume at least 1 megawatt, are allowed to choose their electricity suppliers and negotiate for competitive power rates.

In a letter to the ERC, the JCCIPI noted that “one of the problems (in the country) is the high cost of power and this makes potential investors hesitate to invest in the Philippines.”