Formal appointment of Lotilla urged

The country’s solar developers are urging President Marcos to formally appoint Raphael Lotilla as Secretary of the Department of Energy following the favorable legal opinion issued by the Department of Justice last week on his nomination.

“The solar industry is simply overjoyed to hear the favorable legal opinion of the Department of Justice declaring the exclusion of an independent director under RA 9638,” said Tetchi Capellan, chairperson of the Philippine Solar and Storage Alliance.

“With such firm interpretation, we urge the President to formally appoint Atty. Lotilla to the post of Secretary in the Department of Energy,” she said.

Capellan said the country’s solar developers offer its unwavering support to the incoming DOE chief, expressing their commitment to continually find ways to lower the generation cost by introducing more efficient technologies, better business processes, and applying costsaving measures.

According to Capellan, the energy sector is in a period of transition toward a greener grid, with policies issued by the previous leadership that put in place the mechanism for the injection of about 17 gigawatts solar energy by 2030.

“We will work with him as we did in the past when solar energy was still deployed in off-grid and remote communities around the country,” she said.

The DOJ, in a statement last week, said Lotilla’s nomination as DOE chief is “valid and lawful.”

Listed Aboitiz Power Corp., in a stock exchange filing last week, also announced that Lotilla has resigned as lead independent director of the company effective July 11, due to his nomination and appointment to government position.

The nomination of Lotilla, who served as energy secretary from 2005 to 2007 during the presidency of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, is being reviewed to determine whether an independent director is considered an officer of the company.

He was elected independent director of ACE Enexor in 2019, and as lead independent director of AboitizPower in 2021.

Section 8 of Republic Act 7638, the law that created the Department of Energy, states that “no officer, external auditor, accountant, or legal counsel of any private company or enterprise primarily engaged in the energy industry shall be eligible for appointment as secretary within two years from his retirement, resignation, or separation therefrom.”

Capellan said her group’s past experience with Lotilla “affirms his fairness and determination to do good.”

“We fully trust the competence and integrity of Secretary Lotilla,” she said.