Gatchalian clarifies: Davao not working with Japanese firm in energy project

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Sherwin Gatchalian has clarified that the Davao City government is not working with a Japanese private sector partner in constructing a P5-billion waste-to-energy project there.

In an earlier statement, Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate committee on energy, said that the city government “has for quite a while been working with Nippon Japan” on the project and that the project is already up for groundbreaking.

But the senator on Sunday clarified that the city government was not working with Nippon or any other Japanese company to be its partner to construct and operate the said facility.

The partner, Gatchalian said, will be selected through a bidding process.

Gatchalian has filed Senate Bill No. 363 or the Waste-to-Energy Act (WTE Act), a bill which the senator believes would help to address the country’s problem with garbage.

The senator said WTE facilities would use and convert non-recyclable waste materials into energy.

“With the passage of the WTE bill, the country will be able to maximize the energy we can produce from waste, be it in the form of electricity, fuel, or gas, and in the process address the waste problem,” Gatchalian said in a statement.