The Senate Committee on Energy is confident that the bill seeking to develop the country’s natural gas industry would not only help enhance the country’s energy security but also increase employment opportunities for Filipinos as well. 

An LNG cargo arriving at the plant site in Batangas. (MB file photo)

Gareth Tungol, special legal counsel of Sen. Raffy Tulfo, who filed Senate Bill No. 2247, or the proposed Philippine Downstream Natural Gas Industry Development Act, the country’s natural gas industry will accelerate investment opportunities in the Philippines as the government policy shifts towards clean energy.

The SB 2247 is now under the technical working group’s scrutiny. Tulfo, in filing the bill, cited the urgency of the bill’s passage due to the critical need to extend the life of the Malampaya gas. 

The Malampaya offshore gas field provides about 40 percent of the country’s natural energy needs since 2001.

Tungol said passage of the measure would also help the country lessen its dependence on importation.

“We are not prioritizing blindly; we are prioritizing Filipino gas first. That’s the direction of our policy because we believe the first step shouldn’t be importation,” said Tungol, who presided over the TWG meeting on behalf of Tulfo.

“I think that is the best driver of our investment because instead of resorting to importation, foreigners will invest facilities and infrastructure here. So there would be jobs, plus foreign investment,” he added.

The Department of Energy (DOE) is also supporting passage of SB 2247. 

At the same time, the Senate energy panel assured that the end goal of the bill is also to drive down the price of electricity in the country, noting that natural gas is not as volatile as coal. 

Aside from energy security, the development of the natural gas industry in the country will definitely produce a “trickle-down effect” through generation of jobs. 

“Once bigger corporation invests here, they will need people to work for them. They will likely hire Filipinos to work for them. It’s not only income generating for the investors, but it’s also job generating for our country,” Tungol said.

“We have so many skilled engineers here in the Philippines; we have so many overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who worked in LNG (liquefied natural gas) plants in other countries, so we have the capacity as a Filipino people to actually support the industry, but the problem is we currently don't have that industry here,” he pointed out. 

“So that is what we are doing in this measure, giving the firms opportunity to invest, and we have the opportunity to work,” the TWG chairperson said.