Philippines fails to pass Biofuels Act -- Caltex-Chevron blamed
Quicknote: biofuels policies
A disappointed Rep. Juan Miguel Zubiri has lashed out at the Senate for putting politics ahead of the public clamor for cheap, plant-based fuel, which includes the production of ethanol from sugarcane. "If the Senate only had passed the proposed Biofuels Act, we could have celebrated June 12 this year as the day that we started our journey towards energy independence," Zubiri said yesterday.
"Unfortunately, the public clamor for cheap alternative fuel took a backseat in the Senate. Instead of stepping on the gas and passing the bill before they adjourned last week, they ran out of gas in the homestretch," he said. Zubiri said that Caltex-Chevron had lobbied against his proposal in the Senate, wherein a group of senators have adopted the firm's position that the use of biofuels should not be mandatory, but merely voluntary.
He said the principal author of the Senate bill embodying Caltex's position is Liberal Party Senator Manuel Roxas II.
"I have it from very reliable sources that Caltex-Chevron had been lobbying against the mandatory blending of biofuels. Its executives had been meeting with a group of senators in a bid to block the House-approved bill. So far the lobby appeared to have succeeded because the Senate did not act on the measure," Zubiri said.
"My sources informed me that Caltex-Chevron had sought to buy more time, and had lobbied for the non-approval of the House version of the Biofuels Act. Caltex's position is to make the blending of biofuels voluntary, and this has been carried in the Senate version of the bill authored by Sen. Mar Roxas," Zubiri said.
Zubiri, however, was all praises for the bill's champions in the Senate - Edgardo Angara, Richard Gordon, Sergio Osmeña III and Miriam Defensor-Santiago - but added, "Unfortunately others did not share their enthusiasm, as if treating the rise of oil prices as something that can't be mitigated."
Despite the Senate's failure "to deliver" the biofuels measure, Zubiri expressed hope that the Upper Chamber can hit the ground running when Congress resumes session on the fourth Monday of July.
"Many have said that with their penchant for bellyaching, senators had, in fact, produced enough gas to solve the energy crunch. I, however, don't believe in this unkind assessment," he said.
"I know that the Senate will finally pass this critical measure. With oil getting expensive, it can't afford to sit on a measure that promises relief to our motorists. Otherwise, it will leave the public very frustrated and fuel the clamor for its abolition," Zubiri said.
Passed in the House on Nov. 9, 2005, the biofuels bill promotes the development and consumption of plant-based fuel, such as bioethanol from sugar cane and biodiesel from coconut.
In the case of bioethanol, the bill seeks the mandatory blending of all gasoline locally sold with 10 percent bioethanol, whose production the bill seeks to jumpstart by providing tax breaks to those who will manufacture it.
By substituting 10 percent of the country's imported oil with indigenous fuel, the country can save P35 billion a year from its oil import bill, Zubiri said.*
The Visayan Daily Star.
A disappointed Rep. Juan Miguel Zubiri has lashed out at the Senate for putting politics ahead of the public clamor for cheap, plant-based fuel, which includes the production of ethanol from sugarcane. "If the Senate only had passed the proposed Biofuels Act, we could have celebrated June 12 this year as the day that we started our journey towards energy independence," Zubiri said yesterday.
"Unfortunately, the public clamor for cheap alternative fuel took a backseat in the Senate. Instead of stepping on the gas and passing the bill before they adjourned last week, they ran out of gas in the homestretch," he said. Zubiri said that Caltex-Chevron had lobbied against his proposal in the Senate, wherein a group of senators have adopted the firm's position that the use of biofuels should not be mandatory, but merely voluntary.
He said the principal author of the Senate bill embodying Caltex's position is Liberal Party Senator Manuel Roxas II.
"I have it from very reliable sources that Caltex-Chevron had been lobbying against the mandatory blending of biofuels. Its executives had been meeting with a group of senators in a bid to block the House-approved bill. So far the lobby appeared to have succeeded because the Senate did not act on the measure," Zubiri said.
"My sources informed me that Caltex-Chevron had sought to buy more time, and had lobbied for the non-approval of the House version of the Biofuels Act. Caltex's position is to make the blending of biofuels voluntary, and this has been carried in the Senate version of the bill authored by Sen. Mar Roxas," Zubiri said.
Zubiri, however, was all praises for the bill's champions in the Senate - Edgardo Angara, Richard Gordon, Sergio Osmeña III and Miriam Defensor-Santiago - but added, "Unfortunately others did not share their enthusiasm, as if treating the rise of oil prices as something that can't be mitigated."
Despite the Senate's failure "to deliver" the biofuels measure, Zubiri expressed hope that the Upper Chamber can hit the ground running when Congress resumes session on the fourth Monday of July.
"Many have said that with their penchant for bellyaching, senators had, in fact, produced enough gas to solve the energy crunch. I, however, don't believe in this unkind assessment," he said.
"I know that the Senate will finally pass this critical measure. With oil getting expensive, it can't afford to sit on a measure that promises relief to our motorists. Otherwise, it will leave the public very frustrated and fuel the clamor for its abolition," Zubiri said.
Passed in the House on Nov. 9, 2005, the biofuels bill promotes the development and consumption of plant-based fuel, such as bioethanol from sugar cane and biodiesel from coconut.
In the case of bioethanol, the bill seeks the mandatory blending of all gasoline locally sold with 10 percent bioethanol, whose production the bill seeks to jumpstart by providing tax breaks to those who will manufacture it.
By substituting 10 percent of the country's imported oil with indigenous fuel, the country can save P35 billion a year from its oil import bill, Zubiri said.*
The Visayan Daily Star.
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