Senate President Franklin Drilon. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—“We know the urgency but we can’t rush into this,” so said Senate President Franklin Drilon of the proposed emergency powers being requested by President Benigno Aquino III.
“On the timetable, it is impossible to have it by the end of September, that is impossible because we don’t even have the draft joint resolution,” Drilon told reporters on Tuesday.
“We don’t know the parameters of the authority being requested. We know the urgency, but we can’t rush into this.”
“We will work on as fast as we can. I think the committee on energy chaired by Senator (Serge) Osmeña will meet on Wednesday next week,” Drilon said.
The Senate leader issued the same statements during the hearing of the Senate committee on finance on the proposed budget of the Department of Energy.
Drilon informed the committee that the Senate was in receipt of the President’s letter, asking for a joint resolution that will grant him authority to contract additional generating capacity amid the projected power shortage in Luzon next year.
But he said the letter was too “broad” that he asked Petilla, who attended the hearing, about the parameters of the authority that the President was requesting.
“You know we have barely five session days before we go on break on the 25th, or 26th…I doubt it very much whether or not we can come up with any joint resolution that you have requested or the President has requested in five session days. We do not even have a committee hearing much less is there any indication of the parameters of the authority that the President is requesting,” said Drilon.
“As I said, I received a letter yesterday, it was so broadly worded. There was even no draft of the proposed joint resolution, we don’t know what are the authority being requested, what are the limits of this authority, etc. We would have preferred if a draft of the joint resolution was enclosed which would already indicate the parameters of the authority requested but unfortunately there is none,” he added.
Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero, chairman of the committee, also inquired about the President’s letter that was sent both to the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Escudero particularly asked how much the additional generating capacity would cost the government and where the money would be sourced.
Responding to Escudero’s queries, Petilla said the estimated cost of the additional generating capacity was estimated at P6 billion, which will be sourced from the Malampaya funds.
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