Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Tuesday expressed confidence that the Philippines will soon have its own research development institute on energy that would help the country be at par with technological innovations with that of other developed countries.
Gatchalian made the remark following President Duterte’s signing into law of Republic Act No. 11572 or the law establishing the Philippine Energy Research and Policy Institute (PERPI).
Initially approved by the Senate during the 17th Congress, Gatchalian expressed appreciation for the enactment of the measure under the Duterte administration.
“This is a long-awaited dream that we have all been waiting for to happen—to have an energy research and policy institute that can do independent studies on the latest scientific breakthroughs that would improve our energy sector,” said Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate Energy Committee.
“An independent research institute, PERPI will be a think-tank, a laboratory, an innovation incubator, and a sparring partner of the government energy policy apparatus all-in-one,” the senator said.
The principal author of the measure also expressed his gratitude to Senators Joel Villanueva, Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri, Risa Hontiveros, and Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa who are all co-authors of the law.
As a publicly-funded institute attached to the University of the Philippines (UP), the results of PERPI’s research and policy development activities will be utilized to craft energy sector reforms for the benefit of the national economy and the lives of the Filipino people.
PERPI is also envisioned to establish linkages with government agencies, other universities, and private and public institutions on existing energy research and policy studies, develop programs and capacity building trainings on energy, enhance the masters and doctoral pool of researchers and faculty in the field of energy, and serve as the repository of all energy-related researches, studies, and data, Gatchalian said.