“There’s something that can be done but within the bounds of the law,” said deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte at a press briefing Friday. “So while you believe that the executive has so much power, perceived power, we are limited by what the law says.”
Valte specifically cited Republic Act 9136 or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) of 2001, which she said prevents the government from being a power generator.
“People keep asking ‘why don’t you build your own power plants?’ Because of the law that we have, we can’t. Government can’t do that. You can’t put money into that because it’s prohibited,” Valte said.
“So we try to work within what is present to address these concerns and these issues. The President has already given instructions to the relevant agencies to see what we can do,” she added.
But asked if President Benigno Aquino III will personally push for amendments to the law, Valte said they will still have to look at the proposed amendments.
“Perhaps it’s a matter of finding the right proposal that the President will throw his weight behind,” she said.
“Which is why we’ve said that we welcome any initiatives to amend or at least to put forth amendments from our legislators to the EPIRA Law,” she added.
The Palace likewise remained cool to the idea of convening the Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC), reiterating that priority bills are still getting passed without it.
“Because of the good relationship that the President has with both leaders of Congress, nako-communicate naman iyong mga ganitong bagay,” said Valte.
Earlier, several groups had asked the Supreme Court to declare as unconstitutional the following EPIRA provisions:
- Sections 34, 43 (b) (ii) of RA 9136 empowering the ERC to determine and approve universal charge imposed on consumers;
- Section 43 (f) empowering the ERC to fix system loss for recovery by power distribution utility; and
- Sections 6 and 29 stating power generation or supply of electricity to contestable market shall not be considered a public utility operation, hence are not required to secure local or national prices and prices are not regulated.
There are also pending petitions against the power hike supposed to have been implemented by Meralco. — KBK, GMA News
