Albay Representative and Chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means, Joey Salceda, is pushing the Senate to act on The Philippine Downstream Natural Gas Industry (PDNGI) Development Act, which has already been approved by the House of Representatives.
In a report by Malaya Business Insight, Salceda requested the senators to consider House Bill No. 8456, which sought to establish state regulations for the complete growth of the natural gas industry in the Philippines.
House Bill 8456 would promote the country as “a liquefied natural gas trading and transshipment hub in the AsiaPacific.”
Under this bill, the Department of Energy (DOE) would oversee and monitor the proposed system, as well as regulate the building and operation of natural gas pipelines and other infrastructure for the transmission and delivery of natural gas.
Additionally, it would grant the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) exclusive regulatory authority over pricing and other conditions pertaining to the delivery of natural gas.
Salceda also mentioned that the bill called for LEDAC and SONA priority, giving him hope that the Senate would be able to enact it before the midterms.
The Senate version of the House-approved bill, Senate Bill No. 2247, was introduced by Senator Rafael “Raffy” Tulfo and was under evaluation by a technical working group (TWG).
The objective of SB 2247 was to encourage the creation of an all-encompassing, integrated legislative framework that would support the growth of the nation’s natural gas industry.
Furthermore, given the declining amount of Malampaya gas, this legislation would also encourage the construction of new wells.
