“It has been established that the road to stabilize climate change is a dramatic reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions.”
This early, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is showing how transparent his administration is. I can’t help but give him some credit for how he handles appointments to his Cabinet.
Take the case of Raphael P.M. Lotilla who has been appointed as Energy Secretary, although his official appointment has been temporarily withheld pending a thorough vetting.
I believe Marcos Jr. is consulting with his legal team on whether there is legal and ethical basis in appointing Lotilla to the position.
Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles in a recent press briefing said Lotilla was still considered a nominee pending the clarification of his employment status. Lotilla is an independent director of Aboitiz Power Corp., and of oil and gas exploration and production firm ACE Enexor.
Marcos Jr. wants to know if there is legal basis for Lotilla’s appointment since there seems to be a conflict of interest.
Under Republic Act 7638 or the law creating the Department of Energy, “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.”
I laud the president for his making sure all his appointees to his Cabinet will pass both legal and ethical yardstick.
The DOJ, however, sees no legal obstacle to the Lotilla’s appointment, believing his nomination “valid and lawful” even as Lotilla served as an independent director of Aboitiz Power Corporation and Ace Enexor.
“The position of the department is that the appointment should be valid given that an independent director does not fall within those prohibited by the DOE Act of 1992,” according to Mico Clavano, a lawyer with the DOJ Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla.
This could be Lotilla’s second tour of duty at the DOE. He served as its chief from 2005 to 2007 during the administration of former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. He also served as president of the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. and deputy director-general of the National Economic Development Authority.
I’m confident that Lotilla is up to the task. He’s facing problems in the sector which a person of his stature can find a solution to.
I see the depletion of the Malampaya gas reserves and the country’s commitment to finally rid its energy mix of coal as the two most pressing issues which he should address with dispatch.
The Philippines vowed to lower greenhouse gas emissions in the county by 75 percent by 2030 . Of the 75 percent commitment, around 72 percent will be contingent on the support of developed countries, and the rest will be executed using national resources.
In October 2020, the Department of Energy called for a moratorium on endorsing new coal-fired power projects in a bid to shift to a more “flexible” power generation.
Santa Banana, I have pointed out time and again in this column that the best bridge to a carbon-free future is Natural Gas, which the country has, but has never tapped.
In the past, I found the lack of foresight and poor planning of the people tasked to ensure power stability in the country’s energy sector.
There is absolutely no plan B when Malampaya runs out of gas. This is certainly an emergency that needs to be addressed. Where on earth do we now source the amount of power the country would miss in the face of this dire situation?
It has been established that the road to stabilize climate change is a dramatic reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions.
For years, the accepted target has been the lessening of gas emission to 80 percent below 1990 levels by the year 2050. My gulay, to do this, we must eliminate almost all use of fossil fuels.
I see and agree that natural gas is an excellent bridge fuel.
The inference is that we will harness it now, to realize short-term greenhouse gas reductions by replacing coal-fired power, then reduce or end reliance on natural gas over some time to lock in long-term greenhouse gas reductions.
Let me just cite the reasons:
We would not have to face such an emergency had the Department of Energy assisted Energy World Corp. in having its Liquefied Natural Gas hooked up with the existing transmission grid.
Yes, you read me right. EWC could have provided instant power to the Luzon grid had its appeal to piggyback on existing transmission lines got all the government’s support.
Despite the technical and financial feasibility of such an arrangement, the appeal was successfully opposed by Team Energy which ironically processes coal for power generation.
Santa Banana, his EWC project has had to hurdle protracted bureaucratic red tape and cold-shoulder support from government agencies tasked to ensure stability in the country’s energy mix.
The company is now building its own transmission line and switching station to connect the plant to the main grid.
Once operational, EWC intends to install a 200 megawatt steam turbine. Similarly, the final stages of development of its 2-MTPA LNG facility are on track.
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In my earlier columns, I made a big thing out of my inability to retire, having been a journalist for more than 74 years now.
First, what will I do in retirement, since the only thing I have been doing for more than seven decades is to pound on my old Olympia typewriter.
And, Santa Banana, after working for 74 years, I will receive no retirement pay.
I have been complaining a lot about the lack of retirement pay, much less a pension plan, despite the fact that I have been a journalist for that long.
That’s the biggest problem of journalists like me — no retirement pay, much less a pension.
Santa Banana, believe it or not, my pension from the Social Security System is a mere P3,000, after having worked for 74 years. I guess that most of my employers all these years have not been paying the SSS obligations.
It is for all these reasons why I am elated that some members of the House of Representatives have filed a bill proposing a Welfare Act for media workers in print and broadcast (radio and television) that proposes that media workers be treated like regular employees in the government and private sector, entitled to all the benefits and perks under the law.
More so because journalists and other media workers work beyond ordinary working hours to bring to the people all the events and happenings every day. Santa Banana, journalists are at risk when they cover dangerous places and events.
I am also elated about the proposed bill because at my age, almost 95, I cannot expect a retirement pay, much less a pension plan.
I realize that having a retirement pay and pension is already too late for me, but I am thinking of the future of journalism with future journalists being discriminated against, unlike regular workers of the government and private sector.
In fact, I would like to think that media workers deserve more than regular workers because of the many risks we face, all for the benefit of the public and common good and national interest.
I plead to the Senate to file a similar bill to provide that all media workers, including journalists, be treated like regular workers. And I am urging President Marcos to prioritize the bills.
It’s all because of the low pay given to journalists that corruption in the media prevails, with all the responsibilities and risks that we, journalists, have to undergo.
I praise those representatives in the House for considering that we, journalists, do not get the usual treatment like regular workers despite the risks we take in bringing to the people the news of the day.
Santa Banana, we journalists are even threatened with death and, in some circumstances, killed in the process.
I am actually surprised that the Department of Labor and Employment has not looked into this anomaly.
I call it an anomaly because it has been existing for some time: that media workers, including journalists, have not been treated like regular workers in the government and the private sector.
It is for these reasons I am appealing to President Marcos, since his press secretary appears unmindful of this big anomaly.
Mister President, please consider us journalists who bring all the news day in and day out like regular workers. I believe we deserve no less.
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I was not at all surprised with the report about the PNP that from 2016 to the present, only 21 percent ( only 62,061 out of 291, 393) of drug related cases filed by the police led to convictions.
And. more importantly, I was not at all surprised that the police investigators have a dismal performance because of their lack of training in the judicial processes.
As far as I am concerned, this lack of training of police investigation must be attended to right away because it affects the core government efforts against criminality and peace and order of the nation.
And lack of peace and order as a result of very low conviction of criminal cases brought to court strikes deep into the leadership of the country, particularly on the departments involved in peace and order like the Department of Interior and Local Government and the Department of Justice.
Previous national Police Commissions have issued policies to professionalize and enhance the field investigators but it seems they have forgotten about it.
The Napolcom in 2018 provided incentives by adding a 5-percent “specialist pay” on top of their monthly regular sal;ary. But, it seems that convictions by the police did not improve.
I am surprised that even the election of former police chiefs to the Senate like former Senator Ping Lacson and Senator Bato de la Rosa have not made any effort to professionalize the PNP.