Philippines: Visayas may get bigger share of EU's 'P10B investments'

Philippines: Visayas may get bigger share of EU's 'P10B investments'

A European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) official said he
was hoping that 190 million euros or at least P10 billion of promised
investments by the European Union (EU) for renewable energy and rural
electrification projects in the country would also benefit the Visayas.

Henry Schumacher, ECCP senior advocacy advisor, said that while the ECCP had
no control over where or how the money would be spent, he was hoping that
the Visayas would get a major share of this investment.

Schumacher cited the EU's commitment announced last Friday of investing 60
million euros to help Filipinos gain access to renewable energy and for the
rural electrification projects with 130 million euros more to follow.

The pledges from EU were announced in another energy forum in Manila last
Friday and would be worth P10.16 billion based on current foreign exchange
rates.

Citing the Philippine electrification profile presented by the Department of
Energy (DOE) in a recent forum, Schumacher said only 79 percent of
households in the Visayas and 56 percent in Mindanao against 89 percent in
Luzon had access to electricity.

"If we are taking the new administration's aim of decentralization and
regionalization seriously, then it has to go to the Visayas and Mindanao to
quite an extent," said Schumacher at the sidelines of the 2016 Energy Smart
Visayas forum at Radisson Blu Hotel in Cebu City on Thursday.

By 2030, the Department of Energy in the forum last Friday also aimed to
energize 100 percent of households in the Philippines and sought to have
three times the number of renewable energy sources that the country has
today.

Schumacher said that EU had not changed its perspective despite the insults
Duterte had thrown at them in the last few weeks.

"The commitment has been made. . . . The EU has made it clear (that) we are
in the Philippines for the long-term," he said.

Duterte earlier criticized the EU over calling him out for his "bloody"
crackdown on illegal drugs in the country and has, on several occasions,
challenged the 28-member bloc to cut ties with the Philippines.

But the EU and ECCP, whose founding members include Schumacher and has been
in the country for 38 years, will "continue to be part of the development of
the Philippines."

Meanwhile, ECCP Cebu Business Council chairman Sabino Dapat called for the
creation of an energy superbody or a "National Energy Board" to oversee the
development of the sector in the country.

This, he said, would address constantly shifting policies brought about by
the change in leadership over the last six years.

"In six years, we've changed DOE secretaries three times. We need an energy
board composed of members that will have Constitution-based tenure to take
care of resources important to economic development, free from the touch of
politics," said Dapat.

Furthermore, he said he was hoping that bills on energy conservation and
those bills pushing for the development of the natural gas industry would be
passed.

He also urged local government units to pass ordinances pushing for the use
of clean energy in their respective localities.

Energy Smart Visayas is now on its third year, launched by the ECCP to
engage stakeholders to collaborate toward economic stability and
sustainability of gains through competitively priced energy and cleaner
sources.

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Ref:
http://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/108371/visayas-may-get-bigger-share-of-eus
-p10b-investments

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John Diecker
APT Consulting Group Co., Ltd.

www.aptthailand.com