{"id":241831,"date":"2020-01-10T20:07:23","date_gmt":"2020-01-11T01:07:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=241831"},"modified":"2020-01-10T20:07:23","modified_gmt":"2020-01-11T01:07:23","slug":"solon-pushes-for-ph-energy-independence-as-crisis-proofing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/01\/10\/solon-pushes-for-ph-energy-independence-as-crisis-proofing\/","title":{"rendered":"Solon pushes for PH energy independence as crisis-proofing"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cThis dependence on other country\u2019s oil output diminishes the country\u2019s efforts towards independent foreign policy,\u201d Salceda said. (File photo<\/a>: Joey Sarte Salceda\/Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 The chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee on Friday said energy independence is a national imperative in the administration\u2019s pursuit of an independent foreign policy to help insulate the Philippines from international crises.<\/p>\n

In an aide-memoire addressed to President Rodrigo Duterte regarding the socio-economic implications of the US-Iran tensions to the Philippines, Albay Rep. Joey Salceda said the present crisis shows the country\u2019s economic prospects will remain affected by overseas conflicts for as long as the economy remains fueled by foreign oil.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis dependence on other country\u2019s oil output diminishes the country\u2019s efforts towards independent foreign policy,\u201d Salceda said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the long-term, the country\u2019s push towards robust economic and political self-determination will depend in large part on whether we can create our own sources of energy,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Salceda cited that the latest Brent crude spot prices stood at USD67.05 per barrel as of the first week of January.<\/p>\n

He noted that current market speculation alone could drive prices up to the USD70 to USD75 territory, stressing that this could lead to a PHP0.9 to PHP2.6 increase in oil prices per liter.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe economy\u2019s ability to absorb this impact will depend on how long it takes before tensions are resolved but should oil prices for 2020 settle around this territory, inflation might rise by 0.2 percent above baseline, all other things kept equal,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The lawmaker suggested that the government could start with the sustainable and efficient use of its existing renewable energy sources.<\/p>\n

He recommended that in the longer term, the nation must seriously consider the nuclear option and the exploration of new energy sources especially in the West Philippine Sea under a modus vivendi with China as it will be \u201cvital\u201d to the country\u2019s economic ambitions.<\/p>\n

He said he has filed House Bill 1031 which provides a framework for nuclear energy regulation, and the House is prepared to champion the President\u2019s agenda for energy independence.<\/p>\n

Salceda said his panel will continue to monitor oil prices, but he currently sees no need to suspend fuel excise taxes under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion law.<\/p>\n

Proposals to suspend these taxes can be entertained if other fiscal measures such as the taxes on Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations are passed to provide a fiscal breathing space for revenue-negative measures, he noted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0\u2013 The chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee on Friday said energy independence is a national imperative in …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":197160,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-241831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-filane-mikee-cervantes","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241831"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241831\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":241832,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241831\/revisions\/241832"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/197160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}