Chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy Senator Sherwin Gatchalian is pushing the government to fast track the implementation of the Energy Virtual One-Stop Shop (EVOSS) law, which will streamline and modernize the permitting process of power generation, transmission, and distribution in the country.
Implementation of EVOSS law during the pandemic will help ensure that the country will have enough supply of energy, especially areas that are under quarantine measures, Gatchalian said in a report.
Gatchalian added that the law will serve as a virtual storage of integrated shared services of all government offices, including Government Owned and Controlled Corporations (GOCCs), and Local Government Units (LGUs), and other concerned agencies in power generation and distribution.
He noted that power agencies should start contactless processes and approvals.
“Sa panahon ngayon na ang lahat ay dapat may social distancing, malaki ang maitutulong ng EVOSS Law upang tuloy-tuloy pa rin ang pag-proseso ng mga energy-related permits dahil ang lahat ng ito ay maaring i-proseso online (During this time that all people have to abide by social distancing, the EVOSS law can greatly help in the continuous processing of energy-related permits because all of these can now be processed online),” Gatchalian said.
“EVOSS is the perfect tool for the new normal. I will make sure that this law will be implemented,” he added.
Gatchalian emphasized that the aim of the EVOSS law is to prevent red tape in the energy sector.
This is “to ensure the quality, reliability, and security of energy and expedite the process of supply to meet the country’s demand in a timely manner even during extraordinary times such as pandemics,” he concluded.
