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Support for Gatchalian’s re-election bid snowballs in energy industry

Support for the re-election of Senator Win Gatchalian in the Senate 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.

 

PASAY CITY, Philippines – Senate Committee on energy chairman Senator Win Gatchalian, pictured here 8 Oct. 2021. Photo by Mark Cayabyab/OS WIN GATCHALIAN

Based on AVEC’s Statement of Support to Gatchalian, it says Senator Win 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. It further says 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.

Gatchalian’s six-year term as Senate Energy Committee Chairperson yielded the enactment into law of 11 energy-related measures aimed at reducing electricity costs and ensuring stable supply which he authored and co-authored. These include 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.

For its part, 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.

Meanwhile, 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 ECs for better services

“A vote for Senator Gatchalian is a vote for stronger ECs,” Vargas said.