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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Rodriguez makes plea to big-time Pinoy businessmen who fancy renewable energy

Rodriguez makes plea to big-time Pinoy businessmen who fancy renewable energy

Published Dec 11, 2025 01:17 am

At A Glance

  • Cagayan de Oro City 2nd district Rep. Rufus Rodriguez is prodding big-time Filipino businessmen to go local when it comes to their renewable energy (RE) investments.
Cagayan de Oro City 2nd district Rep. Rufus Rodriguez (PPAB)
Cagayan de Oro City 2nd district Rep. Rufus Rodriguez (PPAB)


Cagayan de Oro City 2nd district Rep. Rufus Rodriguez is prodding big-time Filipino businessmen to go local when it comes to their renewable energy (RE) investments.
“Sa mga bilyonariyong negosyanteng Filipino, huwag na kayong mag-invest sa wind o solar farm sa Vietnam o Indonesia. Dito na lang sa atin. Tutal, dito kayo kumikita (To the billionaire Filipino businessmen, do not invest in wind or solar farms in Vietnam or Indonesia. Do it here at home instead. After all, it is here that you earn your profits),” he said in a statement Wednesday, Dec. 11.
Rodriguez's call was in line with the government’s goal to expand the country’s RE infrastructure.
The Mindanaoan said the Marcos administration and Department of Energy (DOE) ought to entice both foreign and local investors to go into more RE projects in the country.
He commended former House colleague and now DOE Secretary Sharon Garin for aiming to increase energy production from indigenous sources to 50 percent of the nation’s energy mix by the year 2040 through sustained public-private partnerships.
“Dadami ang mga solar at wind farm at hydropower plant. Ibig sabihin, dadami ang trabaho na puwedeng pasukan ng ating mga kababayan (There will be more solar and wind farms and hydropower plants. This means there will be more jobs that our fellow citizens can enter into),” said Rodriguez, who attended the recent climate change conference (COP30) in Belém, Brazil.
Aside from job generation, Rodriguez said expanding the RE sector would bring a lot of other benefits to Filipinos and the country.
“Dadami ang maiilawang bahay, establisimiyento at pasilidad sa kanayunan. Madadagdagan ang economic activities at income opportunities sa mga lugar na ito (More houses, establishments, and facilities in the countryside will have electricity. Economic activities and income opportunities in these areas will increase),” he explained.
Rodriguez said that tapping indigenous energy sources would lessen the Philippines' dependence on imported fuel for power plants.
“That will mean foreign exchange savings, which the government could use for projects like roads, school buildings and health care,” he stressed.
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