Kuryente.org poses the same question raised by President Duterte during his last State Of the Nation Address (SONA) Monday: “Where do we go from here?”

We are disappointed that a clarion call to address the debilitating and perennially-repeating energy crisis as one of the key elements to economic recovery from the pandemic was nowhere to be found.

The longstanding energy crisis due to lack of reserves, causing rotational brownouts in most of Luzon, prompted a series of Senate inquiries as of late. However, any mention of the president’s plan of action to address this is non-existent in his two-hour, 15-minute speech -- the longest SONA ever
delivered since the EDSA Revolt in 1986.

With one year still left in his term, we believe that there is still time for the Duterte Administration to leave a legacy in sustainably addressing the problems plaguing the energy sector.

Kuryente.org together with the Filipino consumers expect the SONA to serve as a venue to affirm the reality of a problem on the ground in order to prioritize steps and solutions. We, as a nation, cannot turn a blind eye and sweep under the rug high electricity cost, bill shocks, inefficient service and annual energy shortage, and failure of government agencies, like the Department of
Energy, and the Energy Regulatory Commission, to ensure that we have a functioning and competitive industry to serve the interests of the Filipino people.

There are a few things that we can do immediately: DOE Secretary Alfonso Cusi should focus on the issues at hand rather than getting embroiled in the political games of PDP-Laban. If he cannot help it, he should resign and turn over the leadership to those who have the competency, time, and passion to resurrect the sector out of darkness so we all can step into the light -- literally. Cusi cannot serve two masters at once. Is it PDP-Laban or DOE.

We cannot recover fast as a nation and supercharge our economy if we have somebody leading the agency whose priority is the 2022 election. We cannot bring key stakeholders including consumers together to urgently develop a roadmap away from the crisis that we are in, and allow the most disadvantaged
among us to get back to its feet first.

Despite the absence of an energy agenda from yesterday’s SONA, we would like to say again and reiterate, that it’s not too late for the Duterte administration to leave a legacy for the country.

Kuryente.org would like to bring to the table the following recommendations that we can work on for a stable, secure, sufficient, sustainable and accessible energy towards a globally competitive energy industry which will uplift the economic status and transform the lives of Filipinos.

1. Settle the issue on the annual rotational brownouts by going to the root of the problem and punishing energy players for failing to deliver the needed energy and infrastructure to secure the grid;

2. Strengthen the Competitive Selection Process (CSP) and stop backward steps like the Unsolicited Proposal mechanism the DOE is so eagerly pushing;

3. For the ERC to really fulfill its role as the arbiter in the energy industry and stop playing popularity politics and playing favorites; and

4. Compel energy industry players from power generation, transmission and distribution utilities to be efficient and effective in delivering their services.

To achieve the above recommendations, we would like to recommend the immediate creation of an energy legacy committee to unpack details, identify timelines, steps and personnel involved.

Talk is cheap, we need to act now for the future.