Press Release
September 21, 2008

Angara sees oil price rollbacks as "green signal" for RE bill

Senator Edgardo J. Angara today said that oil price rollbacks should not wane our efforts towards enacting the Renewable Energy bill instead we should see it as a catalyst for independence to oil importation.

"Even if the current prices are bound to decrease, this does not preclude the country from the risks of future price spikes in the world market. Global trends show that there is an increasing demand for oil and this might spell constant world oil price fluctuations," said Angara.

Each year the Philippines import 94% of its crude oil needs. Meanwhile, the country's oil consumption is projected to rise by more than 10% in the next decade. The country's 2006 net oil imports (crude and petroleum product imports less petroleum exports) went up to 20 percent to $6.8 billion funds which could otherwise have been spent on public services funds such as schools and hospitals. The high cost of imported fuel also translates to high power prices which are passed on to consumers.

He added, "This is an opportune time for us to pass this bill. Daily rollbacks of .50-100¢ for petroleum products are nothing but short term breaks from a long term trend of escalating oil prices. Worse, our country is still at the scourge of oil dependency."

"Let us get our acts together and maximize this downward trend in the oil prices. By enacting this bill which eventually lessens our dependency to oil importation, the country could generate much savings that we can use for other social services needed by our people," he said.

According to the study made by the Renewable Energy Coalition, if the country saves even half of its net oil imports, it can use this amount for social and infrastructure programs such as: sending 17 million children to elementary school, building 250,000 classrooms, putting up 135,000 health centers, feeding 14 million families, and building 38,000 farm-to-market roads.

Another study by the University of the Philippines which was commissioned by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), by increasing the country's share of indigenous renewable energy in its power generation mix to 41% the country can save as much as US$2.9 Billion from avoided fossil fuel imports.

Angara said that solar, geothermal, hydro and wind energy are proven power technologies, for which we have great and untapped potential.

According to the Department of Energy (DOE), the country's resource potential for geothermal energy is 4,531 MW; hydro at 13,097 MW; biomass at 277 MMBFOE; solar at 5.0-5.1 kWh/m2/day; wind at 76,600 MW; and ocean at 170,000 MW.

Angara also underscored the importance of passing the RE bill as the country's major contribution in concerted efforts towards ecological preservation.

"Global initiatives are also being exerted towards preserving our environment and combating climate change. For our part, the RE bill in the long run will be a great gift to our global partners in environmental initiatives," said Angara.

56 countries worldwide now have some type of renewable energy promotion policy and that several developing countries are actively engaged in enacting policies.

"What we need today is a conducive policy environment to jumpstart the national initiative for renewable energy. We have the resources, we have the manpower, and we have all the opportunities. Let us act now," he added.

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