As the Philippines addresses investigations of alleged rigging in its Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), and plans to sell a multi-billion 25-year licence to run its power transmission grid later this year, many in the country are turning new attention to the governance of its energy sector.
On June 27, 2007 The Ateneo School of Government (ASoG) in Manila hosted the launch of Empowering People. A Governance Analysis of Electricity, a comparative analysis of electricity governance in India, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines.
Empowering People presents the results of detailed assessments using more than 60 indicators to gauge environmental and social aspects, policy, and regulatory processes. The indicators assess the transparency, accountability, and overall effectiveness of these processes.
In the Philippines, the assessments were carried out by the Ateneo School of Government, Green Independent Power Producers, Inc (GRIPP), Action for Economic Reforms (AER) and the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP). The report emphasizes that the government of the Philippines must improve transparency and public participation in the electricity sector to provide citizens with affordable, reliable and clean energy.
Commissioner Albano, head of the Philippines Energy Regulatory Commission, made opening remarks at the event. Empowering People co-author Smita Nakhooda of the World Resources Institute presented an overview of the report, followed by Maitet Diokno Pascual, Philippines team leader, with results specific to the Philippines. A panel of government officials, civil society leaders, and sector scholars then offered their reactions to the report and identified adjustments needed in the Philippines’ electricity sector.
Professor Rowaldo del Mundo of the University of the Philippines observed that the initiative was a unique effort to promote the public interest by improving governance in the power sector. In addition, he noted that increased training and capacity is essential to improve performance in the Philippines electricity sector as a whole.
Julie Avila of the Research and Communications Head of the National Association of Electricity Consumers for Reforms, Inc. (NASECORE) and Dr. Fernando Roxas, an expert in power-related issues from the Asian Institute of Management, emphasized that academic institutions can play a valuable role in improving public participation and stakeholder communication by providing impartial input and disseminating information. Roxas added that state-owned National Power Corporation (NPC) asset valuation, a point of much contention, should be left to the markets instead of individual analysts.
Finally, Francis S.C. Juan, Executive Director of the Electricity Regulatory Commission, reflected on the need for more transparent, participatory decision-making and described upcoming leadership-development seminars.
Other participants included Mr. Melvin Purzuelo, co-convenor of Responsible Ilonggos for Sustainable Energy (RISE).
The launch is the first in a planned series of discussions on improving electricity governance in the Philippines. The next Philippines EGI discussion will look at the integrity of the regulatory process in more detail, with reference to the WESM case.
