PRESS STATEMENT | June 26, 2019

A JOINT APPEAL TO PRESIDENT RODRIGO ROA DUTERTE FOR REVIEW OF APPROVED H.B. NO. 8179 GRANTING A FRANCHISE TO SOLAR PARA SA BAYAN CORPORATION

A bill granting Solar Para sa Bayan Corporation (SPB Corporation) a legislative franchise to put up solar micro grids in remote and unviable, unserved, or underserved areas in the country has been approved by both Houses of Congress.

While we wholeheartedly support the Government’s electrification program, we appeal to His Excellency to review the bill.
We base our appeal to the proposed franchise grant on the following grounds:

1. The grant of the franchise will create an undue competitive edge in favor of SPB Corporation and put at a disadvantage other renewable energy companies now operating in our country. This will make less viable the operations of the other renewable energy companies and Qualified Third Parties (QTPs), which have been operating after compliance with substantive and formal requirements set by law. In other words, the grant of the franchise may defeat His Excellency’s objective of levelling the playing field in the renewable energy sector, and could prejudice power consumers.
2. We understand that SPB Corporation’s franchise bill was approved so swiftly and thus, may have been approved without sufficient deliberation to thresh out fundamental constitutional, legal and economic issues.

In view of the impact of the SPB Corporation’s franchise bill on small, mini and micro grids now operating in the country, as well as to the power consumers in general, we appeal to His Excellency to have the members of the Economic Cluster of the Cabinet review this franchise bill prior to any executive action.

AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF THE PHILIPPINES (AMCHAM)
FINANCIAL EXECUTIVES INSTITUTE OF THE PHILIPPINES (FINEX)
MAKATI BUSINESS CLUB (MBC)
MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION OF THE PHILIPPINES (MAP)
SEMICONDUCTOR AND ELECTRONICS INDUSTRIES IN THE PHILIPPINES, INC. (SEIPI)
WOMEN’S BUSINESS COUNCIL PHILIPPINES (WBCP)

###

Download Joint Statement – Appeal to PRRD on Solar para sa Bayan