MANILA, Philippines – Sa botong 215 pabor at 3 pagtutol, pasado na sa Kamara ang House Bill 8456 o Philippine Downstream Natural Gas Industry Development Act na magbibigay-daan para mag-establisa ng Philippine Downstream Natural Gas Industry (PDNGI) na siyang magpopromote sa natural gas bilang energy source ng bansa.
Ang nasabing panukala ay isa sa Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) priority bill.
“It’s high time that we enforce, implement, and use clean energy to mitigate the effects of climate change. We have to start now to veer away from the conventional but hazardous method of generating power, for the benefit of our future generation,” pahayag ni House Speaker Martin Romualdez sa pagpasa ng panukala sa Kamara.
Sa ilalim ng HB 8456 ay may mandato ang Department of Energy na i-supervise at i-monitor ang pagtatag ng PDNGI, gayundin ang regulasyon sa konstruksyon at operasyon ng mga natural gas pipelines at pasilidad para sa transmission, distribution at supply of natural gas.
Ilang environment issues ang inuugnay sa paggamit ng coal kaya naman isinusulong ng Kamara ang mas ligtas, environment friendly at efficient na paggamit ng natural gas.
“About 65 percent of the country’s power needs are derived from coal use, which is why we have been pushing for the approval
of such a bill for purposes of accelerating investments, where
domestic incentives can entice foreign investors, or LNG players, to come in “pagtatapos pa ni Romualdez. Gail Mendoza
