Senator Sherwin Gatchalian’s re-election bid has snowballed with the declaration of endorsement of his candidacy from the Association of Visayas Electric Cooperatives (AVEC) and various players in the energy industry in a recently held e-rally.
In their statement of support to Gatchalian, AVEC said they believe the senator is the ideal and perfect example of a legislator and statesman whose time in the legislative arena made milestones and milestones on top of each other.
They further said that what the lawmaker has done for the energy sector in the legislative and policy making arena is nothing short of outstanding and one that can be awarded with flying colors.
Under his watch as chair of the Senate Committee on Energy, Gatchalian was able to enact into law 11 energy-relate dmeasures aimed at reducing electricity costs and ensuring stable supply in the Philippines.
Among the laws Gatchalian helped pass include the Murang Kuryente Act, Energy Virtual One-Stop Shop Act (EVOSS), Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act, and Microgrid Systems Act.
The Philippine Electric Plant Owners Association (PEPOA) and the Philippine Energy Efficiency Alliance (PE2) echoed AVEC’s position as they expressed their unqualified support to Gatchalian’s candidacy.
PEPOA is a group of privately-owned electric distribution utilities all over the country while PE2 is an organization of private and public sector energy efficiency market stakeholder entities.
“He has demonstrated in the past six years his commitment to the various players of this industry and exerted efforts to understand the dynamics of the power industry. And for this, we appreciate his efforts in coming out with bills that are well-balanced and do not compromise the interest of any of the stakeholders,” PEPOA president Ranulfo Ocampo said.
PE2, thru its president Alexander Ablaza, is behind Gatchalian in realizing the energy efficiency goals of the country.
“Your active push for energy efficiency legislation is something very, very new that a traditional lawmaker will probably not understand and it was this out of the box thinking and very progressive energy transition mindset that actually made the Energy Efficiency and Conservation (EEC) law a reality, breaking the 29-year gap without an EEC law because the old law lapsed in 1990,” Ablaza said.
Likewise, Bicol Electric Cooperative Association (BECA) president Rodolfo Vargas also declared his unequivocal support for the re-election of Gatchalian saying that the senator showed unwavering support to the goals, projects and programs of rural electrification and he has been very consistent in his crusade to implement various projects in rural electrification and empower electric cooperatives (ECs) for better services.
“A vote for Senator Gatchalian is a vote for stronger ECs,” Vargas said.