Gatchalian to file bill allowing private sector energy experts to serve in gov’t

Department of Energy | INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Tuesday said he will file a bill that would allow energy experts in the private sector to serve in the government.

He made the statement after Raphael Lotilla was nominated as the next Department of Energy Secretary “pending clarification of his employment status” since he is currently an independent director of Aboitiz Power and also of ENEXOR.

Under Section 8 of Republic Act No. 7638 “no officer, external auditor, accountant, or legal counsel of any private company or enterprise primarily engaged in the energy industry shall be eligible for appointment as Secretary within two years from his retirement, resignation, or separation therefrom.”

Gatchalian, who previously served as the Senate energy committee chairman, said the said provision bars the government from tapping experts from the energy sector. This puts the government at a “disadvantage,” he said.

 Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian (Voltaire Fernandez Domingo / Senate PRIB)

“There’s only a handful of energy experts in the country. This field is very specialized and the learning curve is very steep and a lot of the good ones actually work for the private companies so the government is actually at a disadvantage status if we don’t allow experts from private companies to join in,” he said in an interview on ABS CBN News Channel.

“I have some idea of relaxing this provision, making it more liberal in a sense that the government can get experts from the private sector… I will file a bill, making sure that it’s balanced,” he added.

The senator pointed out that energy experts only come from the academe and the private sector, and all of them work in a private company “because of our deregulated environment.”

Gatchalian also acknowledged that the intention of the law is to prohibit conflict of interest and undue advantage so he assured that his proposed measure will be “balanced.”

“Broadly speaking, if it’s a non-executive position, then let’s allow them to participate in government because again the wealth of expertise in the private sector is something we can tap into so broadly that’s the direction that I’m thinking,” he said.

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