Solar dev’t agency bills filed in House
By Charmaine A. Tadalan – October 28, 2018 | 10:46 pm
from Business World
THREE new bills seeking to create a solar energy development agency were filed at the House of Representatives.
House Bills no. 8311 and 8326 both proposed to establish a Solar Energy Development Center as an agency of the Department of Energy (DoE).
The bills, written by Manila-3rd district Rep. John Marvin C. Nieto and Camarines Sur-2nd district Rep. Luis Raymund F. Villafuerte, Jr. respectively, provided that the Center shall be led by a 6-member Board of Directors.
The Board, as proposed, will be chaired by the President, who is authorized to appoint two members. The three other members will be the secretaries of the DoE, Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Department of Science and Technology (DoST).
House Bill 8337, written by Laguna-2nd district Rep. Joaquin M. Chipeco, Jr., seeks to establish a Solar Energy Development Authority to be headed by a five-member Board.
In this version, the Board of Directors will be led by a chairman, two members and two ex-officio members from the DoST and the DENR.
In his explanatory note, Mr. Chipeco noted that in the Philippines the private sector is active in solar energy development.
“In the Philippines, it appears that the private sector is taking the lead in developing and promoting the use of solar energy as an alternative to fossil and other ‘dirty’ fuels,” Mr. Chipeco said.
“There is therefore a need to come up with a regulatory regime and coherent policies and strategies with respect to this relatively new economic and scientific development.”
The bills propose to authorize the solar agency to conduct research into alternative energy sources.
Aside from the three House Bills, Congress is also considering Senate Bill 497, written by Senator Antonio F. Trillanes IV.
