MANILA, Philippines — Several business groups on Wednesday asked President Rodrigo Duterte to review the Solar Para sa Bayan bill which was recently ratified in Congress.
The groups – including the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (AMCHAM), the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines (FINEX), the Makati Business Club (MBC), the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP), the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines, Inc. (SEIPI), and the Women’s Business Council Philippines (WBCP) — called for Duterte to review the bill, including its impact to small, mini and micro grids in the country.
“While we wholeheartedly support the Government’s electrification program, we appeal to His Excellency to review the bill,” the groups said in a statement.
The groups said the franchise grant “will create an undue competitive edge in favor of SPB Corporation and put at a disadvantage other renewable energy companies now operating in our country.”
“This will make less viable the operations of the other renewable energy companies and Qualified Third Parties (QTPs), which have been operating after compliance with substantive and formal requirements set by law,” the groups said.
“In other words, the grant of the franchise may defeat His Excellency’s objective of leveling the playing field in the renewable energy sector and could prejudice power consumers,” they added.
The groups said the bill “may have been approved without sufficient deliberation to thresh out fundamental constitutional, legal and economic issues.”
“We appeal to His Excellency to have the members of the Economic Cluster of the Cabinet review this franchise bill prior to any executive action,” they said.
The bill gives Solar Para Sa Bayan Corporation (SPSB) franchise to “construct, install, establish, operate, and maintain distributable power technologies and mini-grid systems throughout the Philippines to improve access to sustainable energy.”
Following its approval in Congress, the bill only needs Duterte’s signature before it becomes law. (Editor: Eden Estopace)
READ: Senate, House ratify Solar Para sa Bayan franchise bill