Consumer group, small oil players back EO 474

At least two groups have expressed support for the implementation of Executive Order 474, which seeks to establish an office that would respond to an impending energy crisis and ease the impact of soaring crude oil prices on Filipino consumers.

The Consumers Union of the Philippines (CUP) and the Independent Philippine Petroleum Companies Association (IPPCA) urged President Arroyo to implement EO 474, which she withdrew in December last year.

EO 474 seeks to create the Philippine Strategic Oil, Gas, Energy Resources and Power Infrastructure Office (PSOGERPIO) whose main task will be to aggressively promote, develop and fasttrack crucial private sector-led oil, gas, coal and other energy resources and power projects.

"The consumer sector sees the necessity, beneficiality and practicability of EO 474 as it will bring about and attract more foreign investors to the country. Needless to say, it will enhance economic development," said CUP president Quirino Marquinez.

"The order is one of the very first policy decisions focused directly on the energy crisis," he said. "The participation of the President is an encouraging sign of its seriousness in dealing with the crisis that will continue to haunt us all."

Marquinez said the creation of the new office is crucial amid soaring crude oil prices, which have caused a relentless assault on household finances since the second half of 2004. High inflation rates reaching seven to eight percent last year have been linked to the doubling of the cost of imported crude oil.

Contrary to allegations that EO 474 will take away any of the functions of the Department of Energy, Marquinez said the new office will only complement efforts on the promotion of the use of indigenous and renewable energy resources in the country.

For his part, Fernando Martinez, chairman of IPPCA, said the board of the association has reached a consensus that EO 474 is actually "good" for the industry.

Martinez, who is also the president of Eastern Petroleum Corp., also agreed that the creation of PSOGERPIO will complement the functions of DOE. He said this will help facilitate the entry of investments in the power sector.

EO 474 calls for complementing efforts between the DOE and the new office particularly on the promotion of the use of indigenous and renewable energy resources in the country.

"We need the office created by EO 474 to stimulate investments," he said, noting that the DOE has apparently been complacent in generating private sector interest in the energy sector.

Industry players have described EO 474 as an economic reform measure that should not be misconstrued as a political tool. Under this reform measure, the new office to be created will prepare a strategic plan for 2006 and beyond, whose main beneficiaries will be the Filipino people.