DOE cancels coal bid round to revisit policies

CEBU, Philippines — The Department of Energy (DOE) has terminated the 2026 coal bid round to reassess the parameters for awarding coal operating contracts. Through the move, the agency aims to ensure that future agreements provide clear and measurable benefits to the country.

DOE Secretary Sharon Garin, in a virtual press conference on Tuesday, said the bidding process would be re-announced within the next two weeks, covering the same mine sites but under revised rules.

“The Department of Energy has terminated the 2026 coal bid round in order to reassess the parameters of awarding coal operating contracts to ensure that any future award will bring real and clear benefit to our country and to the Filipino people,” Garin said.

Garin said the coal reserves are state-owned assets, giving the government the authority to reassess or terminate a bidding process when existing parameters are deemed insufficient to protect state resources and maximize the benefits the country receives from them.

She said the DOE also considered concerns raised by stakeholders and recent developments on Semirara Island, which could affect the country’s coal reserves.

Semirara Island hosts the country’s largest coal mining operation and supplies coal for power generation and other energy needs.

Garin said the government wants to optimize not only the extraction of coal but also its utilization, particularly by ensuring that domestically produced coal is used primarily to meet the country’s energy requirements.

“Kailangan po unang-una po kailangan i-address po ang fuel needs ng Pilipinas bago po tayo mag-export,” she said.

The revised framework, she said, would give greater weight to clear and measurable benefits to the country, appropriate government revenues and commitments to domestic coal utilization.

Garin said these measures are intended to maximize the benefits from the country’s indigenous coal resources while strengthening domestic energy security.

She also cited the long duration of some existing contracts, including the contract involving Semirara, which she said has been in place for 50 years.

The DOE chief said the cancellation does not mean the government is abandoning the coal bid round.

Instead, the agency is revising its policies before reopening the bidding process.

“So bakit kami nag-cancel? Kasi marami tayong binago sa mga policies. Kasi gusto natin cancel muna, may bago tayong policies, and then we do the bid round again with the new policies,” Garin said. — /MRM (FREEMAN)