Senator Pia Cayetano has sponsored Senate Bill No. 2793, or the proposed Philippine Natural Gas Development Act that seeks to support the full development of the Philippines’ natural gas industry.
In her sponsorship speech on Tuesday, Cayetano called for the support of her colleagues to act swiftly on the bill which also mandates the priority dispatch of the country’s indigenous natural gas to attain energy security.
The bill also seeks to revitalize indigenous gas exploration and develop natural gas infrastructure, the senator stressed.
“This bill provides for the prioritization of indigenous gas over other imported LNG and other conventional fuels in terms of use and the production of power," Cayetano explained.
“With Filipino gas, we will not be heavily dependent on foreign suppliers, who may suddenly pull out of the Philippines to sell their gas to richer buyers elsewhere. Filipino gas will give us a significant measure of energy security and sovereignty underpinning our economic development,” she said.
Cayetano stressed that the proposed law would also boost investor confidence in the Philippine economy as it would signal government commitment to industries that require heavy investments, like natural gas.
The bill would provide a market for indigenous gas by giving priority to its procurement and use for power generation, a policy already enshrined in the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) and successive issuances from EPIRA’s chief implementing agency, the Department of Energy (DOE).
This would assure investors of a market for the production of more wells, as the senator noted that the Philippines ranks lowest compared with other Southeast Asian countries in terms of natural gas discoveries.
“Malampaya was supposed to be the first of many producing gas fields in the Philippines but it turned out to be the only one. It has grown old, and may become depleted as early as 2027. This poses a dilemma. To support the DOE’s long-term energy plan, the country needs more Malampayas: we barely have one left,” Cayetano said.
Malampaya is providing stable-cost gas to power much of Luzon’s energy requirements for more than 20 years. It is the country’s first and only natural gas field, which was discovered back in 1989.
Cayetano, reiterating DOE policy, also pointed out that natural gas would serve as a transition fuel during the Philippines’ shift to full renewable energy use.
"While the renewable energy industry is developing, natural gas can help decrease our dependence on imported coal and oil,” Cayetano said in her speech.
She said natural gas as a baseload source is less harmful to the environment and less volatile to international conflicts.