E-power Mo

The Duterte Administration came at a time when majority of Filipinos aspired for change. Real change in terms of action – and not just promises. There were urgent calls for government to accelerate poverty reduction, speed up infrastructure projects, create more employment opportunities and improve government services in order to ensure that economic growth is actually felt by all Filipinos.

We need to compete globally. The Philippines ranked 57th in the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index 20162017. Our country ranked 95th out of 138 countries in terms of quality infrastructure, the lowest among middle- income countries in Southeast Asia.

That is why this government had to work on a vision - a vision to transform our country to an upper middle-income economy by 2022. We claim this as the “golden age of infrastructure”. This is Dutertenomics!

To realize this vision and to increase our ability to compete, we need to level up. The National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) launched the Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022, as the blueprint of the country’s economic development to realize “Ambisyon 2040”.

YOUR Department of Energy will work on initiatives to ensure affordable, reliable, modern and sustainable energy. We will pursue a fuel and technology neutrality balancing environment and socio-economic growth through competitive selection process. And contrary to what people might think, I am not against renewable energy, I am against high-energy rates.

Our projections show that we need additional capacity of almost 44,000 megawatts from 2017 to 2040. We have on hand the Philippine Energy Plan 2017-2040 and its comprehensive sectoral roadmaps to guide us in our long-term planning on energy.

Recently, President Duterte signed Executive Order 30 “Creating the Energy Investment Coordinating Council (EICC) to Streamline Regulatory Procedures Affecting Energy Projects”. This Council will coordinate the efforts of various agencies to fast-track the implementation of major energy projects. These projects will be endorsed by the DOE as “Energy Projects of National Significance” if this is in accordance to the Philippine Energy Plan.

The EO instructs government agencies to act on applications of energy projects within 30 days upon complete submission of requirements. Another significant provision of the EO is the Presumption of Prior Approvals that gives the processing agency the right to act on the project application with the presumption that relevant permits from other concerned government agencies had already been issued.

The EICC will be led by the Department of Energy and ably supported by our attached agencies and other relevant government and private entities to include DENR, NCIP, LGUs, among others.

With the EO in place, we expect fast delivery of basic energy services, while providing additional investments for the economy that would lead to increased employment opportunities for Filipinos.

Another policy initiative of the DOE is institutionalizing disaster resilience in the energy sector for strengthening energy systems and facilities, quick restoration and provision of alternative sources that would lessen the burden to our consumers during calamities. This draft energy resiliency policy is one of the solutions we have in developing a

disaster-resilient Philippines. Major principles considered under this policy include the strengthening of existing infrastructures, implementation of the “build-back better” principle in reconstruction and rehabilitation of infrastructures, improvement of operational and maintenance standards and practices, as well as resiliency standards for new energy facilities.

The Philippines is one of the most vulnerable countries to natural calamities. We experience an average of 20 typhoons per year, flash floods, storm surges, earthquakes and landslides.

Just last week, the Visayas experienced a magnitude 6.5 earthquake that affected electricity supply in Leyte, Samar and Bohol. In circumstances like these, it is our task to make sure that electricity services are restored at the fastest possible time. With this reality, our Department needs to assess the negative impact of these calamities on the country’s energy systems and to provide the necessary tools and technologies to enhance our resiliency planning and implementation. In this respect, we encourage the installation of rooftop solar PV system in households to ensure continuous supply of electricity in areas often hit by calamities.

And in terms of promoting transparency, the policy will institutionalize the Energy Sector Resiliency Compliance Program, which provides engineering and non-engineering measures to ensure the infrastructure and human resource disaster preparedness.

We will all be given a follow through presentation on these two relevant policies by our Senior Undersecretary. I hope you will listen intently as these are products of hard work, long discussions and continuing structured consultative process to make sure that we will provide our constituents with the best innovations in the energy sector.

Our breakout sessions will provide all of us an opportunity for learning, as well as sharing our ideas on various energy options, plans and programs that will ensure our country’s goals on energy security and access.

At this point, I must emphasize the vital role of both the mainstream media and social media in disseminating the messages of the energy sector to the general public. We need to be able to enlist the support of media in explaining to a broader public what we are doing in support of the Duterte administration’s 10-point economic agenda and the DOE’s long-term Philippine Energy Plan 2017-2040.

To conclude, one of the important roles of the Department is to use our convening power to make the stakeholders wellinformed on energy strategies of the country.

I believe this Summit is an ideal opportunity for knowledge sharing and networking as we look towards constructive discussions with all of you. We encourage everyone to take active and healthy participation in the breakout sessions.

Let us proceed with the launching of E-Power Mo! KEYNOTE ADDRESS Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi E-Power Mo! Energy Consumers and Stakeholders Conference

12 July 2017Philippine International Convention Center Pasay City