Bungle of energy
SUCH a bundle of energy, this DENR, with its bright idea of imposing last minute rules with gusto!
About a month ago, our favorite Department of Environment and Natural Resources issued a freaking memo, even with only three days left in the Aquino (Part II) administration.
What do you know—it frontally targeted coal-fired power plants.
From now on, according to the memo, any application for ECCs (environmental compliance certificate) of coal-fired plant must get “clearance” from Sen. Loren Legarda.
The memo also asked for clearance from the Climate Change Commission, or the CCC, the body tasked to come up with more and—hopefully—better plans for natural disasters, attached to the Office of the President.
That the DENR would add the CCC clearance to the already long list of conditions on ECC application, could be justifiable, according to business.
But for what ungodly reason would the DENR impose the “clearance” from a senator?
The good senator herself initiated it, when she wrote a letter to the DENR questioning ECC issuances to coal plants, despite the trend abroad toward what she called “climate change mitigation efforts.”
As if the dozen or so coal plants in the Philippines were the most troublesome cause of climate change in the entire planet!
And what would be the next move of the DENR—clearance from China for the domestic price of eggs?
From what I gathered, the controversial memo of the DENR went all the way to Malacañang for approval.
Former Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa supposedly went along with it, because the Aquino (Part II) administration at that time had only a few more days in power, and the Duterte administration could always scrap it.
In other words, it was an accommodation to Legarda.
Surprise—word went around business that the DENR, now under Secretary Regina Paz Lopez of the rich Lopez clan, would continue to enforce it.
Our contacts in business noted that the former DENR boss, Ramon Paje, brilliantly distanced himself from the controversial memo.
As it turned out, the memo originated from Analiza Rebuelta-Teh, undersecretary for legal services and attached agencies, ordering assistant secretary for environment Juan Miguel Cuna to implement it. Cuna, in turn, passed the ball to Jonas Leones, director of the Environmental Management Bureau.
Recently, coal plants hit the headlines because our new leader, Duterte Harley, hinted he would not dismiss them as an option for power in the country, because they were still the “cheapest” source.
In one of his ad libs in his first Sona, he also said “I cannot just agree on anything that will delay” the industrialization of the country.
Clear enough—Duterte Harley refused to bungle coal plants as a viable source of electricity in this country to offset the high cost of “renewable energy.”
But then again some groups claiming to be “environmentalists” warned Duterte Harley: He must know that renewable energy has already achieved parity with coal.
Really—why do we still pay extra for renewable energy, what with the Feed-in Tariff, or FIT, the subsidy imposed by the government on all electricity users in this country known to have the most expensive electricity in Asia?
The FIT started with a subsidy of 4 centavos per kilowatt-hour, which the government decided should be doubled to 8 centavos per kWh, which the government wanted to raise by half to 12 centavos per kWh.
Today we still cannot see at what rates the FIT will end!
By the way, one of the biggest generators of renewable energy in the country is Solar Philippines.
Together with Citicore Power, Solar Philippines is in hot pursuit of the largest solar farm in Luzon with 250-megawatt capacity worth $600 million.
It was also said to be on top of the 100-megawatt solar plant in Tarlac, and another 45-megawatt plant in Misamis Oriental.
The last time I checked, the CEO of Solar Philippines remained Leandro L. Leviste. It would not take much to guess what the middle initial “L” meant.
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According to the business sector, just as devastating to the country as the crisis on drugs, and the traffic, would be the white-collar crime called “smuggling.”
That was the reason, according to Duterte Harley, why the new administration had to put in the Bureau of Customs an incorruptible former military guy.
Well and good. You see, business groups already estimated that, in the past few years under the Aquino (Part II) administration, smuggling became a threat to national security by denying the government some P200 billion a year in revenue.
Believe it or not, that figure could cover the annual budget deficit of the government, estimated in 2015 at only about P120 billion.
Smuggling—a.k.a. crime of economic sabotage—has been the scourge of local business for the longest time. For example, US-based Global Financial Integrity reported that, from 1960 to 2011, smuggling here amounted to some $280 billion.
Name the product, and the crooks smuggled it: Cigarette, textile, wrist watch, ceramic tiles, tires, rice and other farm goods, cars and trucks and ships, construction materials, oil and fuel, toys, chocolates, liquor, beauty products, and even toothbrush.
According to farm group Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (Sinag), agriculture suffered much in the past four years because of the smuggling of, P40 billion worth of pork, P25 billion worth of sugar and P94 billion worth of rice.
To think, official figures showed that the farm sector historically had the highest poverty incidence among all the local industries—at more than 40 percent.
Recently, smuggling of cement has become prevalent because of the construction frenzy in the private sector.
In 2015, for instance, industry figures showed the importation went up by 78 times, from some 4,000 tons in 2014 to more than 300,000 tons.
The country has so far imported more than a million metric tons of cement this year. And in the first quarter alone, it was estimated that more than 120,000 metric tons were “undervalued” meaning, smuggled.
This became my favorite: The smuggling of substandard steel bars from China. It was evident in the buildings that collapsed in the earthquake that hit Bohol and Cebu some years ago.
A couple of months ago, the BOC stopped the release of some 5,000 metric tons of reinforcing steel bars from China, said to be defective, lacking the approval of the Bureau of Product Standards under the DTI.
From what I heard, the shipment was to be the first of even much larger shipments to come.
Smuggling already killed several industries here, including textile, ceramic, petrochemical, and shoe making.
Next to go could be agriculture, particularly poultry and piggery sectors.
From what I heard, local animal raisers already scaled down their production.
