House seeks review of Epira law implementation

The House of Representatives will review the implementation of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira) law, House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said on Friday. Belmonte was referring to the law that mandates the government to sell 70 percent of the plants of the National Power Corp. (Napocor) within three years from its enactment. The move will pave the way for competition among private buyers that is expected to bring down power rates.

“We will review and assess, through the Joint Congressional Power Commission, the implementation of the Epira in the following areas: competition in the power generation sector; operation of the Wholesale Electricity Sport Market (WESM); privatization of Napocor’s generation and transmission assets; stranded costs; IPP contracts; and new generating capacities,” Belmonte said in a speech he delivered before the Makati Business Club and the Management Association of the Philippines on Friday.

IPP stands for Independent Power Producer.

The said measure, Belmonte noted, will vouchsafe the equality and uniformity in the treatment of investors, transparency in the award of contracts and predictability in the relations between the government and private investors.

“Through these initiatives, we expect to attract more foreign investors and to stop local investors from exporting their investments,” Belmonte added.

He also disclosed that the Lower Chamber is mulling to adopt a pocket “open skies” policy to allow foreign carriers access to selected airports to significantly increase trade volumes and the country’s tourism receipts. –LLANESCA T. PANTI, Manila Times