Malacañang has ordered the creation of the Energy Investment Coordinating Council to draw up the guidelines for the declaration of “projects of national significance.”The EICC, headed by the Energy Department, was directed to streamline regulatory processes for energy projects to speed up the provision of stable and affordable energy throughout the country. Energy Secretary Alfonso CusiCusi was pushing for a sound policy to ensure energy projects were carried out on time. The EO states that energy projects of national significance needed to be endorsed by the department. “The longer the processing of energy projects gets, the more expensive it becomes, which could also impact on the delivery of energy services and their affordability,” Cusi said. “Given that energy investors have complete requirements, cutting down the period of issuance of permits will certainly speed up the realization of energy projects,” he said.

Source: The Standard July 04, 2017 12:33 UTC