Duterte orders Energy chief to sit as chair of PNOC subsidiaries

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte signed the EO on September 5 as part of his Administration’s priority agenda to streamline and rationalize government offices and processes to better serve the public.
(Photo: Department of Energy)

MANILA— Malacanang released today Executive Order (EO) No. 39 mandating Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Alfonso Cusi to sit as as ex officio chair of the PNOC Exploration Corporation (PNOC-EC) and PNOC Renewables Corporation (PNOC-RC).

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte signed the EO on September 5 as part of his Administration’s priority agenda to streamline and rationalize government offices and processes to better serve the public.

“The Department of Energy, PNOC (Philippine National Oil Company), PNOC-EC, and PNOC-RC shall, in the most expeditious manner allowed by existing laws and rules, undertake all such actions as may be necessary to implement the provision of this Order, which may include the amendment of the company By-Laws”, EO 39 stated.

Republic Act (RA) No. 7638, also known as “The Department of Energy Act of 1992”, placed the PNOC under the supervision of the DOE “with the Secretary acting, in a concurrent capacity, as its ex officio Chairman of the Board, unless otherwise directed by the President.”

Both PNOC-EC and PNOC-RC are subsidiaries of government-owned and -controlled corporation (GOCC) Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC).

The PNOC owns 99.79 percent of PNOC-EC, while it owns 100 percent of PNOC-RC.

“In view of the respective mandates of the PNOC-EC and the PNOC-RC to, among others, explore, produce, and utilize petroleum and renewable energy sources as stated in their Articles of Incorporation, there is a need for close policy coordination between those corporations and the DOE in order to achieve the national policy of energy self-reliance,” the EO underscored.

RA 7638 mandates the DOE to implement the policy of the State to achieve self-reliance in the country’s energy requirements and to manage all programs and activities of the government relative to energy exploration, development, utilization, distribution, and conservation. (PCO-Content)