Senate energy panel chair endorses passage of natural gas bill

SEN. Pia Cayetano, who chairs the Senate Committee on energy, has formally endorsed the passage of a bill supporting the full development of the Philippines’ natural gas industry.

In a sponsorship speech last Tuesday, Cayetano urged colleagues to act swiftly on Senate Bill No. 2793, the proposed Philippine Natural Gas Development Act, which also mandates the priority dispatch of the country’s indigenous natural gas to attain energy security.

The bill seeks to revitalize indigenous gas exploration and develop natural gas infrastructure.

“This bill provides for the prioritization of indigenous gas over other imported LNG and other conventional fuels in terms of use and the production of power,” Cayetano explained.

“With Filipino gas, we will not be heavily dependent on foreign suppliers who may suddenly pull out of the Philippines to sell their gas to richer buyers elsewhere. Filipino gas will give us a significant measure of energy security and sovereignty underpinning our economic development,” she said.

Aside from Cayetano, 16 other senators backed the enactment of SB 2793, namely, Senate President Pro-Tempore Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada, Majority Leader Francis Tolentino, Minority Leader Aquino “Koko” Pimentel III, and Senators Grace Poe, Mark Villar, Joseph Victor Ejercito, Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, Cynthia Villar, Christopher “Bong” Go, Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri, Joel Villanueva, Raffy Tulfo, Robinhood Padilla, Alan Peter Cayetano, Ramon Bong Revilla Jr., and Manuel “Lito” Lapid.

Cayetano stressed the proposed law would also boost investor confidence in the Philippine economy as it would signal government commitment to industries that require heavy investments, like natural gas.

The bill would provide a market for indigenous gas by giving priority to its procurement and use for power generation, a policy already enshrined in the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) and successive issuances from EPIRA’s chief implementing agency, the Department of Energy (DOE).

This would assure investors of a market for the production of more wells, as the senator noted that the Philippines ranks lowest compared with other Southeast Asian countries in terms of natural gas