Identity, Ideas, Ideals

Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) in the Philippines

2011-09-12T22:59:00.000-07:00

by Alan S. Cajes

Note: The MMR in the Philippines was 209 in the early 90s. The target MMR for 2015 is at 52. “In 1998 MMR fell from 209 to 172 but seems to have plateaued thereafter stagnating at 162 in 2006. At this pace of reduction, by 2015 MMR will have only declined to 140 and the target of 52 will be unachievable.” About 4,600 women die giving birth each year in the country (http://philippines.unfpa.org/read_more.php?id=14). Picture shown is from UNFPA.

However, the UK-based Guardian published a study by Lancet on Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) or the number of maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. According to the study, the MMR in the Philippines in 2008 is 83.6. The MMR in 1990 was 174.4. The 2008 MMR of the Philippines is slightly better compared to Fiji (85.4), but slightly worse compared to Peru (81.3). The other countries that have lower MMR than the Philippines include North Korea with 64.2, Cuba with 40.0, El Salvador with 37.1, Japan with 6.8, and Italy, which has the best MMR, with 3.9.

The Lancet study is entitled “Maternal mortality for 181 countries, 1980—2008: a systematic analysis of progress towards Millennium Development Goal 5” published online on 12 April 2010 under volume 35, issue 9726, pages 1609-1623. A report summary, which is lifted from the Lancet website, is provided below.

Background

Maternal mortality remains a major challenge to health systems worldwide. Reliable information about the rates and trends in maternal mortality is essential for resource mobilisation, and for planning and assessment of progress towards Millennium Development Goal 5 (MDG 5), the target for which is a 75% reduction in the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) from 1990 to 2015. We assessed levels and trends in maternal mortality for 181 countries.

Methods

We constructed a database of 2651 observations of maternal mortality for 181 countries for 1980—2008, from vital registration data, censuses, surveys, and verbal autopsy studies. We used robust analytical methods to generate estimates of maternal deaths and the MMR for each year between 1980 and 2008. We explored the sensitivity of our data to model specification and show the out-of-sample predictive validity of our methods.

Findings

We estimated that there were 342 900 (uncertainty interval 302 100—394 300) maternal deaths worldwide in 2008, down from 526 300 (446 400—629 600) in 1980. The global MMR decreased from 422 (358—505) in 1980 to 320 (272—388) in 1990, and was 251 (221—289) per 100 000 livebirths in 2008. The yearly rate of decline of the global MMR since 1990 was 1·3% (1·0—1·5). During 1990—2008, rates of yearly decline in the MMR varied between countries, from 8·8% (8·7—14·1) in the Maldives to an increase of 5·5% (5·2—5·6) in Zimbabwe. More than 50% of all maternal deaths were in only six countries in 2008 (India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo). In the absence of HIV, there would have been 281 500 (243 900—327 900) maternal deaths worldwide in 2008.

Interpretation

Substantial, albeit varied, progress has been made towards MDG 5. Although only 23 countries are on track to achieve a 75% decrease in MMR by 2015, countries such as Egypt, China, Ecuador, and Bolivia have been achieving accelerated progress.

Funding

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA):

“In the Philippines, while 40% of maternal deaths are unclassified, it is clear that hypertension (27%), hemorrhage (18%) and unsafe abortion (11%) are the three major causes of maternal mortality. All of these problems are preventable and can be addressed through adequate medical care such as the presence of skilled birth attendants, emergency obstetric care (EmOC), when necessary, and access to family planning services.” (See http://philippines.unfpa.org/read_more.php?id=14)

According to the Department of Health per its National Objectives for Health:

“The MMR between 1987 and 1993 was estimated at 209 per 100,000 live births. This improved to 172 per 100,000 live births based on estimates between 1991and 1997. A recent study based on the maternal causes of deaths in the civil registry estimated the MMR at 138 per 100,000 live births in 2002 (Ericta 2003).”

“Among Filipino women, the lifetime risk of dying from maternal causes is one in 100. Maternal deaths made up less than one percent of the total deaths in the country, but they contribute 14 percent of all deaths in women aged 15-49 years (NSO 1998).”

According to the National Statistics Office (NSO):

“In 2006 there were 1,721 maternal deaths reported to have occurred all over the country. Said number represented a decrease of 0.6 percent from the 2005 figure of 1,732. Maternal mortality rate (MMR) for the year was 103.5 deaths per 100,000 live births.”

“CALABARZON, which ranked second in terms of live births among the regions, reported the most number of maternal deaths at 247. Next to CALABARZON were Central Visayas (198) and National Capital Region (186).”

“Meanwhile, Bicol Region recorded the highest MMR of 165.8 followed by Eastern Visayas (147.0) and Caraga (135.7).”

The NSO Explanatory Notes on MMR state:

“Statistics for this vital event are based on information obtained from the Death Certificates (Municipal Form No. 103) transmitted by the City/Municipal Civil Registrars to the National Statistics Office for processing and archiving. Included in this report are maternal deaths that occurred in 2006 and were registered from January 2006 to March 2007. No adjustments for underregistration were done in the presentation.”

“Maternal death refers to the end of life of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and the site of the pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management, but not from accidental or incidental causes.”

Although there is an absence of an absolutely reliable data on the actual maternal mortality rate as of today, any number on maternal mortality is unacceptable. The target should be zero mortality. That is the ideal scenario.

In our real world, however, we are witnessing the deaths of mothers during or immediately after the end of pregnancy.

How should we address this problem?

My humble opinion is to come up with case studies and practices related to MMR representing different segments of the population. It is not desirable to have a totalizing solution that assumes the factors leading to the MMR problem are the same everywhere in the Philippines. Case studies at the level of the provinces, cities, municipalities and barangays, with due consideration of levels of urbanization, are important to understand better the factors that contribute to MMR. Only then can we think of a better way to solve the problem.

As an example, a barangay-level study in Paranaque showed that MMR can be addressed by prohibiting home-based deliveries, providing access to facility-based delivery, and providing social health insurance to pregnant women, among others.

It seems to me that reducing MMR by decreasing pregnancy is a simplistic way of dealing with a highly complex phenomenon.

See http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/maps_and_graphs/2010/4/13/1271150525875/chilbirth-deaths-graphic-001.jpg; http://www.census.gov.ph/data/sectordata/sr11563tx.html

Reproductive Health Bill and My Little Girl

2011-09-10T06:27:00.000-07:00

(Photo courtesy of searo.who.int)

by Alan S. Cajes

Shawn, my five-year old daughter, was at her best when we were at a mall one day. While I was queuing to buy my medicine at a drug store near the supermarket, she was curiously looking at what I thought were colorful match boxes. The small boxes turned out to be attractively colored small packs of condoms. As I suspected, she turned towards me, grabbed my arm, and asked if I could buy just one small box for her. Her voice was innocent yet loud enough for everyone within two meters away from us to hear. Desperately trying to act naturally as possible, I whispered to her that the boxes are not for kids. She then asked, this time with her voice louder than before: are these toys for grown-ups only?

I sensed a bit of irritation in the tone of her voice. She usually insists on getting what she wants unless she gets a satisfactory explanation. I could also, sort of, hear the thoughts of those who heard our conversation. I imagined that they were equally caught in an off-guard moment with my little girl’s question. I was beginning to feel the pressure. I could hear voices in my head saying that I should be in charge and teach the little girl a lesson. There were also voices telling me to try to make an impression by explaining to a kid the meaning of sex and reproductive health.

I was arguing with myself. Should I be mad at my little girl for asking questions that she should not be asking? Should I tell her the truth that men use condoms to prevent a woman from conceiving? Should I tell her that I will explain at home why she could not have a box of condom? Should I just ignore her, pretend that I heard nothing important, and then charge the incident to experience?

My mind was processing those questions while I was avoiding the eyes that were staring at us behind my back. I could not accept the idea of scolding her because she asked those questions. Explaining to her that some men use condoms to prevent their sexual partners from having a baby was out of the question. Keeping the explanation until we get home would stifle her inquisitive mind. I am sure that by the time we reach home, she would forget her question. I could also not simply ignore her. I have to face the challenge. I have to respond to her with a voice loud enough for those, who have been silently listening to us, to hear.

I told her that the small colorful boxes were toys for older boys. I clarified that boys sometimes use them like balloons but only during special occasions, like a birthday party, because even if just one of the balloons would explode, the cost would be hundreds of pesos with no end.

My little girl has been asking tough questions. Most of the time, her mom finds the questions difficult to handle. Shawn has posed questions about the origin of God, the residence of Jesus, whether Jesus is a human being or a ghost, and many more. I have patiently responded to her questions the best I could.

Perhaps due to our intimate intellectual relationship, I have learned a thing or two about how to best explain complex matters in a manner that she would accept. One lesson that she taught me, one way or another, is to say that something is expensive if it costs hundreds or thousands of pesos with no end. Another lesson runs like this: if something is for girls, then it is not for boys. This is a variance of her principle that states: if something is for mom, then it is not for dad. Or if something is for grown-ups, then it is not for kids.

Keeping these principles in mind, I was able to get out of the frying pan with no sweat. She nodded her head signifying that she totally accepted my explanation. I bought her a chewable vitamin C instead. When I paid for the items I bought, the lady at the counter smiled approvingly at us.

On our way home, I was reflecting about her innocent questions at the mall and my respond to her questions. I asked myself if I gave her the best possible answer given the circumstances surrounding our discussion. If we were discussing at home, then I could have probably thought of other ways to handle her questions. At that moment, however, while a cab was taking us home, I could not think of other ways to explain to Shawn what condoms are for. Besides, she was busy asking me about other things that she saw along the way.

When we arrived home, I kept my fingers crossed, hoping that she would not tell her mom about our incident at the drug store. She usually shares with her mother the things that interest or annoy her when we are together. Refusing to buy her a colorful box was a good candidate for getting back at me while taking comfort and protection from her mom. Luckily, she talked about other things, like the chewable vitamin C, and the long line of passengers waiting for a cab.

After telling Shawn a bedtime story, I opened my laptop and started pouring out my thoughts about the reproductive health bill. I realized that the bill is an important piece of proposed legislation that requires substantive and enlightening discussion. I was writing for myself with the hope that as a citizen and as a father to a little girl, I could respond the best way I can when the time comes that someone would ask me what I think about the proposed law.

I recalled that in July last year, a member of the Philippine House of Representatives filed a controversial bill - House Bill No. 96 – to be known as the Reproductive Health and Population and Development Act of 2010. This proposed law has caused a religious, political, intellectual, and emotional division among the Filipinos. On one hand, the opponents of the bill, represented by the influential Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, insisted on having a healthy discussion of the proposal and not hastening its enactment into law. On the other hand, the proponents of the bill expressed support to President Noynoy Aquino’s statements, such as respecting the choices of the couples, educating the citizens about their choices, and giving the couples the freedom to decide on how to plan their family. The position of President Aquino is consistent with the survey findings showing that more than a majority of the respondents is in favor for the enactment of the reproductive health bill.

My own reading of the proposed bill led me to consider certain provisions as contentious. The first contentious provision is the requirement that all accredited health facilities shall provide a full range of modern family planning methods. The second provision refers to the mandatory inclusion of hormonal contraceptives, intrauterine devices, injectables, and other “safe and effective” family planning products and supplies as part of the National Drug Formulary. In addition, these family planning products are to be considered as among the essential medicines and supplies of government hospitals and health centers. I consider these provisions as controversial because they are based on at least two unsettled questions: First, when does human life begin? Second, should abortifacients be banned?

The time came when someone asked me about my thoughts on birth control and the reproductive health bill. While having dinner with friends, I was asked about my position on population control given my background as a graduate of catholic universities and as a sustainable development practitioner. The person who asked the question was a classmate in college. He was about to take his vow as a priest.

I told him that the use of contraceptives is against the teachings of the Catholic Church. However, I quipped that something must be done to address the problem of about half a million abortions every year. If all of the religious denominations can stop this problem, then it is a welcome development, I said. If not, I called his attention to the need for the State to take steps to promote maternal and infant health, and prevent the deaths of mothers and children.

My friend, who is normally argumentative, had a moment of silence. After a while, he said that the Church would not compromise her teachings. However, he agreed that the State must do something to address the pressing problem. He said that it came as a surprise to him to learn the serious state of abortion in the country.

When I reached home, I read Gaudium et Spes (Joy and Hope), the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, to refresh my understanding of the teachings of the Church as regards birth control. The document gives parents the mission of transmitting human life as participants in the act and process of creation. It is a moral obligation, therefore, for parents to ensure that pregnancy is neither prevented nor terminated. Gaudium et Spes clearly states that means are not justified by ends, but by unprejudiced values that enhance “true love” and “conjugal chastity”. It forbids the prevention of procreation by employing techniques that the Catholic Church abhors.

In Humanae Vitae (Of Human Life), an encyclical written by Pope Paul VI, the Catholic Church emphasizes the doctrine that direct contraception, direct abortion, direct sterilization, and any action before, during, or after sexual intercourse that are directed at avoiding pregnancy “are to be absolutely excluded as lawful means of regulating the number of children.” The encyclical, therefore, prohibits artificial family planning methods, especially contraceptives. However, it permits the natural techniques of avoiding pregnancy, such as the use of the rhythm method.

The prevention and termination of pregnancy are considered wrong because they violate the natural law, which ordains that the purpose of sex is to procreate. The wrongness of contraception has a scriptural basis. In Genesis 38:8–10, God took the life of Onan for performing coitus interruptus or withdrawal method, a technique to control pregnancy by pulling out the penis from a woman, during an intercourse, and ejaculating the semen away from the vagina.

The natural and the divine laws, as specified above, are the bases for banning the artificial methods of family planning. These bases are sustained by the Apostolic Tradition and the Magisterium of the Church.

Under the Catechism of the Catholic Church, human life begins at the moment of conception. This position is supported by a significant number of scientists. Thus, the artificial process of preventing conception is deemed wrong, in the same manner that the artificial process of terminating pregnancy is wrong.

In another gathering of friends, a freemason argued, rather strongly, that the high incidence of poverty and hunger in the Philippines are happening inspite of the more than 300 years of shepherding of the nation by the Catholic Church. He pointed out that if historical experience is used as a basis, then we could not address the social ills that are associated with poverty and hunger, such as prostitution, teenage pregnancy, unsafe abortions, drug addiction, and related crimes. He also emphasized that there must be something wrong with the “logic of the Church” for prohibiting contraception and abortion.

Another friend, who is a former Catholic priest, responded with equal enthusiasm and explained the flaw in the phrase “logic of the Church”. He said that the bases of the teachings and doctrines of the Church are the scriptures, magisterium, and tradition. He stressed that faith is to theology, and logic is to philosophy. He added that although the Church uses philosophy as a handmaid of theology, reason ends where faith begins. He said that one cannot say that philosophically the Church is wrong while theologically it is right.

Rather than join the fray, I decided to ease the increasing tension by bringing the discussion to the heart of the issue of the reproductive health bill. First, I said that the position of the Church is simple and clear. Second, I reminded them that the 1987 Philippine Constitution explicitly provides that the State “shall equally protect the life of the mother and the life of the unborn from conception.” Third, I pointed out that those family planning methods that prevent conception are not covered by any legal prohibition by the State. Fourth, I posed this question: as Catholics and citizens of the Philippines, should we allow the killing of fetuses?

There was a remarkable silence after I stated the question. I could not even believe that I uttered those words. It seemed to me that when reality is stripped of underpinnings and prejudices, one immediately pours out his being and converges with the forces at work in the universe. Reality is simple, but has grand complexity in its nakedness. The question is simple, but it has intricate ramifications.

I suspected that my buddies were equally shocked by my question and were simply summoning the brilliant ideas inside their heads to destroy or deconstruct the points I raised. Like a brilliant chess player, I calculated the possible arguments and counter arguments. I ended up ready to move my last piece. There is no way we can intelligently grasp the concepts and implications of the reproductive health bill if we could not wrestle with the simple question staring at our face.

Finally, the freemason admitted that given the case, we could not help but follow the prescriptions of Faith and the State, unless there is a way to change the position of the Church and that of the government. The ex-priest concurred.

On my way home after our discussion, I recalled my earlier encounter with Shawn at a drug store. I could hear her little voice inside my head protesting: but why is it wrong to kill a fetus when it is not yet a human being?

The position of the Catholic Church is clear. One, the artificial methods of family planning prevent procreation. Two, the use of such methods is a sin. Three, the State should prohibit abortifacients or those modern family planning methods that could terminate the life of the unborn.

There are, however, a number of objections to the first reason. One, the purpose of sex is not just to procreate, but also to strengthen the bond and intimacy of the couples. Two, sexual intercourse is a natural want considering the negative health effects associated with not being able to enjoy it. Three, there is no one harmed when sexual intercourse is performed even if the purpose is not procreation. Fourth, the natural planning method is only applicable to women who have regular fertility cycle.

As regards the scriptural basis for banning artificial birth control, the context of Onan is very much different from the present, at least in the present context of the Philippines. God commanded Onan to marry his brother’s widow, as is customary in their time, and make her pregnant. Onan obeyed, but used the withdrawal method to prevent conception. This act displeased the Lord and brought death to Onan.

Onan belonged to a tradition, under the Sinai Covenance, that obliged a man to marry the wife of a dead brother who is childless. The purpose is to ensure that his dead brother will have a child, who will carry on his name. The first son of the widowed wife with her husband’s brother would become the heir of her husband.

One objection to the scriptural basis for banning contraceptives is the manner of interpreting the verses that tell the story of Onan. The question is this: did God punish Onan for practicing birth control?

The interpretation that supports the Church’s position states that Onan committed three sins. One, he failed to fulfill his obligations to his dead brother. Two, he married Tamar to spend his lust. Three, he avoided conception by spilling his semen on the ground.

The counter-interpretation states that God punished Onan for disobedience, not for practicing birth control. Besides, the traditional practice of marrying the wife of a dead brother does not necessarily apply to present day human beings, particularly the Filipinos.

The third reason – banning the use of artificial planning methods that kill an individual human being – appears to be the strongest argument against the promotion of artificial birth control. This argument rests on the idea that the fetus, being an individual human being, has rights, such as the right to life. Although this is by far the strongest of the three reasons for banning the abortifacients, it is also the most hotly debated topic.

A blow against the third argument is the 1973 landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States of America in Roe vs. Wade legalizing abortion in the U.S. According to the Court, there is no legal basis to the claim that an unborn fetus has any right to life. In U.S. law, a fetus would only have any right to life if it is defined as a legal person. In addition, the original intent of the U.S. Constitution excluded the protection of the unborn.

Under International Law, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and the Universal Declaration on the Human Genome and Human Rights (1997) do not grant rights to a fetus. In June 1999, at the Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly, Governments recognized the right and authority of the individual States to decide on the issue of abortion in their areas of jurisdiction. The only treaty that grants rights to a fetus is the American Convention on Human Rights of 1969. Also known as the Pact of San José, this treaty is signed by 24 Latin American countries. It states that human beings have rights beginning at the moment of conception.

The U.S. is not a signatory to this treaty. However, the U.S. Code penalizes anyone who kills or injures to “a child, who is in utero.”

In the Philippines, Article II, Section 12 of the 1987 Constitution protects the “life of the unborn from conception.” Inspite of this constitutional provision, there is no statutory law that provides protection of the life of the fetus. In the Philippines, abortion is considered as a criminal act under the Revised Penal Code of the Philippines, which was enacted in 1930. Under Philippine Civil law and jurisprudence, an unborn is not vested with substantive rights. What vests human personality and provides legal rights to a fetus is actual birth, which means being alive after delivery.

From a legal standpoint, the Philippine Constitution recognizes the right to life of a fetus, although this legal edict is not supported by international law and by any national enabling law. Now, in the absence of a statutory law that provides an enabling mechanism for the Constitutional guarantee of protection of the fetuses, how will a policy that mandates that full range of modern family planning methods, which the Catholic Church abhors as abortifacients, figure in the country’s legal and moral landscape?

If House Bill No. 96 becomes a law, under the assumptions that it contains the provisions that promote the use of abortifacients, that President Aquino will not veto it, and the Supreme Court will sustain the constitutionality of the law, what will be the philosophical basis of the law? The philosophical basis refers to the ultimate rational foundation of the law. Obviously, such a law can not be founded on the problems that the bill seeks to address. It can not be based also on the religious doctrines of the religions in the country. The philosophical basis of the law will have something to do with the answer to the question: is killing a fetus by means of abortifacients justified?

Peter Singer, a contemporary philosopher and public abortion advocate, accepts the position that an embryo is a human being in the sense that the embyo can be empirically determined whether it is a member of the species Homo sapiens. However, there is the objection stating that the embryo is simply a clump of microscopic cells; hence, if the heart and the brain are not yet functioning, then abortion is justified. In this context, a fetus may be a human person, but not a moral person because a fetus is not a self-conscious subject.

As early as 1971, Judith Thomson, in her famous defense of abortion rights, argued that women have the right to control the use of their own body. The counter-argument to this position, which states that abortion should not be considered as a private choice, is based on the idea that being a human being is the only basis for membership in the human community. Since a fetus is a human person and has the potential to become fully human, then no one has the right to deprive life to a fetus.

On the assumption that individual human beings, both men or women, have the right to make personal choices that should not be constrained by the State, six famous moral philosophers, namely, Ronald Dworkin, Thomas Nagel, Robert Nozick, John Rawls, Thomas Scanlon, and Judith Jarvis Thomson, submitted “The Philosopher’s Brief” to the U.S. Supreme Court in two cases in 1997. The philosophers lost. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the state laws in New York and Washington that prohibit suicide that is assisted by physicians. The Court argued that states have an interest in protecting life and should not entertain the idea that each citizen has the right to exercise the freedom to determine when and how he would die.

It boils down to this: a fetus has a right to live, says the Church, while the life of a fetus shall be protected, says the Philippine State. However, in the absence of an enabling law, the constitutional policy mandating the protection of the life of the unborn from conception cannot be implemented. Although this is the situation, the lack of an enabling law to protect the unborn should obviously not be used as a justification to enact a law that will allow the killing of fetuses. An amendment of the constitution is required, therefore, for a reproductive health bill that will promote the use of abortifacients to prosper.

A few days ago, Shawn told me that she witnessed a savage act. Our neighbor’s cat ate one of her own kittens, she declared. I anticipated that she would ask me why the mother cat ate her kitten. I was still groping for possible answers to her potentially problematic question when she finally asked: Dad, do you think the mother cat liked the taste of her kitten?

I am tempted to ask my little girl what she thinks about the killing of a fetus that is inside the womb of a pregnant woman. But before I give in to the temptation, I must face the fact that I would not be asking such question if my young and jobless mom thought that it was alright to kill the fetus inside her womb.

Easter

2011-04-23T23:28:00.000-07:00

The supreme act of salvation and the glory of the resurrection lose their meaning if our thoughts and actions, intentions and decisions are inconsistent with our faith.

We now know that the person who died on the cross was the physical aspect of Jesus. But Good Friday would not have been possible without Christmas, the infinite sacrifice of the divine becoming human.

Philosophy of Sustainable Development: A Critique

2011-04-16T12:00:00.001-07:00

Open publication - Free publishing - More development

Philippine Policies on Energy Efficient & Environmentally Sound Technologies

2011-04-16T11:59:00.000-07:00

Open publication - Free publishing - More energy

The Sikatuna-Legazpi Blood Compact

2011-03-31T22:14:00.001-07:00

Picture is from http://www.flickr.com/photos/28143030@N03/3425953247/

by Alan S. Cajes

Miguel López de Legazpi y Gurruchátegui (1502 – August 20, 1572) made friends with the Boholanos by performing a blood compact with a chief in Bohol named Si Katuna or Katunao. They performed the rite aboard a Spanish vessel. The two collected a few drops of blood from their arms, mixed them with wine, and drank the mixture. Juna Luna depicted that event in his famous painting entitled El Pacto de Sangre in 1883.

The blood compact or sandugo means that "since the same blood now flowed in their veins, they had become members of the same family, bound to observe loyalty to one another (Arcila, pp. 36-37, 2001)." In other words, Sikatuna and Legazpi became blood brothers by virtue of the rite.

But on 15 April 1565, Legazpi took possession of the island of Bohol in the name of the King of Spain. He then proceeded to Cebu, which he bombarded and conquered.

After burning about a hundred natives' houses, Tupas, a Cebuano chief, made peace with the invaders. The peace pact was documented in Spanish, hence, Tupas "could not have understood everything in it (Corpuz, p. 58, 1989)." The Spaniards established through the peace pact that Tupas and the whole of Cebu and its people have submitted to Spanish rule (Ibid.).

Discussion

The hostility of the Visayans toward the Legazpi expedition was understandable in view of their bad experience with the Portuguese. Two years before Legazpi came, a group of Portuguese and their allies tricked the Boholanos and plundered the island of Dauis-Panglao. They also did the same to Camiguin and other Visayan settlements. So when Legazpi came, the hatred against the "white men with beards" was still strong. Being white and bearded, Legazpi and his men were easily thought as Portuguese.

Because of this hostile attitude, Legazpi and his men could not get help from the natives in terms of getting food to eat. But when Legazpi learned the reason for the hostile behavior, he used an interpreter to inform the Boholanos that he and his men were not Portuguese and did not come to plunder but for peace.

That the Boholanos welcomed the Spaniards despite their bad experience with white and bearded foreigners is also understandable since Legazpi met Pagbuaya or Lagubayan. Pagbuaya, the brother of the great datu of Bohol, Dailisan, who was killed by the Portuguese. Pagbuaya migrated to Dapitan after the siege of Bohol. His rank was higher compared to Sikatuna. According to some sources, Sikatuna was a vassal (a person under the protection of a feudal lord to whom he has vowed homage and fealty)1 of Pagbuaya. And according to Rizal's sources, Pagbuaya gave Legaspi sea pilots. Hence, it is very likely that the pilots brought Legazpi to Bohol or, if not, informed Legazpi about Bohol when the expedition was near the island.

We can only surmise the intention why Sikatuna went on board a Spanish vessel and performed the sandugo rite with Legazpi. Probably, Legazpi dropped the name of Pagbuaya. Probably, the previous raid taxed the courage of the Boholanos and made them complacent to offers of friendship. Perhaps the memory of the plunder simply made them glad that white foreigners are friendly and then seized this opportunity to formally seal the friendship to prevent any more Portuguese or similar attacks. Sikatuna's intention, however, may become clearer by looking at the context of sandugo.

The prehispanic Visayan settlements were regularly at war with each other. These hostilities were "suspended or avoided by sandugo (Scott, p. 156, 1994)." Sandugo is a Visayan procedure by which "two men, not necessarily enemies, became blood brothers, vowing to stick together through thick and thin, war and peace, and to observe mourning restriction whenever they were separated from one another (Ibid.)." Because of this, "[A]ll Spanish explorers from Magellan to Legazpi made such pacts with Visayan datus (Ibid.)." Since sandugo is a Visayan rite, it was very likely that Sikatuna had good intentions in making the peace pact.

What is questionable was the motive of Legazpi in agreeing to perform the sandugo. First, he was authorized by the King of Spain to enter the Philippine Islands and to use force when necessary (of course with the concurrence of his chiefs who are part of his council). Second, his men were hungry so they needed the natives to provide them with food, even if they have to rightfully pay for it. Third, he did not have the cultural background to understand the natives' sandugo rite, hence, probably did not understand the deep and wide implications of such rite. Fourth, he took possession of the island in the name of the King of Spain inspite of the sandugo. And fifth, he made Bohol part of the encomienda system of the country.

The Sikatuna-Legazpi sandugo, therefore, was not a formal international treaty of friendship. Granting that it was, the terms and conditions were definitely not consummated on the part of the Spaniards. On the contrary, the blood compact could be interpreted as the first formal treachery or swindling committed by the Spaniards against the Boholanos, as distinguished from the one committed by the Portuguese and their allies.

References

Arcila, Jose S. Rizal and the Emergence of the Philippine Nation. 2001 revised edition.

Corpuz, Onofre D. The Roots of the Filipino Nation. 1989.

Scott, William Henry. Barangay. 1994.

The Plunder of Bohol in 1563

2011-03-31T22:13:00.001-07:00

by Alan S. Cajes

So why did some Boholanos leave Bohol and established settlements in Dapitan, Villaba in Tacloban, Zamboanga, Iligan, etc.?

Around 1563, two years before the Sikatuna-Legazpi blood compact, the Portuguese in eight boats came to Bohol and anchored at Dauis-Panglao. The Boholanos welcomed them, but when the natives were least expecting it, the visitors treacherously attacked the natives.

This incident resulted in the killing of datu Sarripada Dailisan, in plundering, and in the taking of captives. One of the kidnapped victims was the lady of Dailisan, who was sold for 90 gold taels in Maguindanao. All in all there were 300 killed, including nine chiefs, 500 men, women and children captured, and 300 taels of gold and 200 gongs seized, along with clothing and merchandise(1).

It was a custom among Visayans to abandon places associated with death and misfortune. So Pagbuaya (Lagubayan according to Rizal), brother of Dailisan, left the island with 500 slaves. He settled in Dapitan after subjugating the Suban-on population with the help of Sama marines or Lutaya/Lutaw (2).

Because of their bad experience with the Portuguese, the Visayans, especially the Boholanos, became hostile to "white men with beards." Legazpi himself noticed this hostile attitude of the natives towards them.

After learning about the incident involving the Portuguese from marine merchants near the islands of Bohol and Cebu, Legazpi made peace with the natives and explained to them that they were not Portuguese. This gesture of friendship was sealed by the Sikatuna-Legazpi blood compact.

References

Arcila, Jose S. Rizal and the Emergence of the Philippine Nation. AdMU-ORP, 2001 revised edition.

Sctott, William Henry. Barangay: Sixteenth-Century Philippine Culture and Society. AdMU: 1994.

Rizal and the Boholanos in Dapitan

2011-03-31T22:12:00.000-07:00

by Alan S. Cajes

While Rizal was exiled in Dapitan, he wrote a letter to Blumentritt, his friend, on April 5, 1895. In this letter, Rizal gave a "careful answer" to his friend's question about the meaning of "Dapitan". Rizal even told his friend that he was the "right man" for the job.

To prove his point, Rizal cited a historical document that he bought from the descendants of Lagubayan, the founder of Dapitan. The document, as Rizal claimed, is dated 7 July 1818 and signed by Fernando Man. De Bustillo Bustamante y Rueda, the former governor-general who was assassinated. It contained information about Dapitan and its founders.

Based on Rizal's letter, it was Lagubayan who founded Dapitan. Lagubayan was a Boholano who has resided in places like Baclayon, Mansasa, and Duis in Bohol. He later went to Mindanao, particularly in Iligan. Later, he settled in Dapitan. Lagubayan was known as the "lord of the Subanons"[1] and the "terror of the whole Moroland".[2] It was he who gave the Spaniards pilots and guides, who took them to Catunas (Raja Sikatuna) in Bohol, and then to Cebu.

Dapitan means "a place for rendezvous or meeting place". Dapit means "invite". Probably, Lagubayan invited other Boholanos to the place, hence, the name.

Dapitan was not the only place with Boholanos as the first settlers. Villaba in Tacloban was discovered by Boholano traders in the later part of the 18^th century. The Boholanos were also the first settlers of Zamboanga, where many people up to now speak Cebuano with a Boholano accent.

[1] "Subanon" literally means "from the river". This is the way the natives identify the residents. Perhaps the early Boholanos, who went to Mindanao, established their settlements near a river just like those who first settled in Villaba, Tacloban. Settlements along river banks were common in prehispanic Philippines, as it is now, because the river was the primary mode of transportation.

[2] Rizal did not elaborate on this.

A Brief History of Bohol

2011-03-31T22:10:00.000-07:00

by Alan S. Cajes

Bohol’s Geology

Bohol’s geological formation may be explained under the karst theory. According to this theory, sea level changes and uplift (combined with terrestrial erosion), and air exposure of biognic reef regions gave rise to hummocky landscapes that are often impregnated with sinkholes and caves. The chocolate hills are among the examples of striking karts topography. According to the National Committee on Geological Sciences (NCGS), the chocolate hills were formed "ages ago by the uplift of coral deposits and the action of rain, water and erosion."

The Origin of the Word "Bohol"

That Bohol comes from the word "Bo'ol," which refers to the name of a place (the place thought of as the site of the Sikatuna-Legazpi blood compact) located a few kilometers away from Tagbilaran City is quite well-known. Some sources, however, claim that it actually comes from the Visayan term "boho" (hole) owing to the abundant caves, caverns, and holes in the island.

In "History of Bohol," a doctoral dissertation in history written by Lumin B. Tirol in 1975, Tirol established that the name of the province actually came from "bo'ol," the local name for a kind of tree that used to grow in the province. This claim partly relied on the expert opinion of the Botany Department of the National Museum. A picture of the tree is also exhibited as proof in Tirol's disseration.

The bo'ol tree is short and shrubby. Its leaves are heart-shaped with a dimension of about two inches in width and three inches in length. It bears white flowers in summertime. Its fruit, which is smaller than that of a grape, is edible and appears bluish in color when very ripe. In Jose Panganiban's "Diksyunario Tesauro Pilipino-Ingles" (1974), which Tirol cited, "bohol" is described as a "thorny or small tree with elliptic leaves, long yellow flowers, and nearly round fruit."

The penchant of calling a place after a tree or a person is quite common in the province. The upland barangay of Bayabas in Guindulman is obviously named after a guava tree. And so is the town of Batuan (this writer actually saw the batuan tree and tasted its fruit during his childhood). A batuan tree is exhibited in a museum ground in Butuan City.

16th Century Boholanos

It is safe to assume that today’s Boholanos (and Filipinos, in general) are descendants of what is known to anthropologists as Southern Mongoloid and to laymen as the brown race. This wave of migrants entered the archipelago around five or six thousand years ago.

The early Boholanos, however, differed from the rest of the Visayans. Pedro Chirino, writing in 1604, said that Boholanos were lighter in color, more handsome, braver and more spirited than other Visayans.

The Boholanos then, as it is now, were also good drinkers. Historian William Henry Scott quoted what he describes as Chirino’s well-known tribute to the Boholanos’ ability to carry their liqueur:

“It is proverbial among us that none of them who leaves a party completely drunk in the middle of the night fails to find his way home; and if they happen to be buying or selling something, not only do they not become confused in the business but when they have to weigh out gold or silver for the price…they do it with such delicate touch that neither does their hand tremble nor do they err in accuracy.”

Boholanos in Dapitan

Jose Rizal bought a historical document from the descendants of Lagubayan. The document is dated 7 July 1818. According to the document, Lagubayan founded Dapitan. Lagubayan was a Boholano. He resided in places such as Baclayon, Mansasa and Duis – all located in Bohol. He went to Mindanao, particularly in Iligan. Later, he settled in Dapitan. Lagubayan was known as the "lord of the Subanons" and the "terror of the whole Moroland". He gave the Spaniards pilots and guides, who took the Spaniards to Catunas (Raja Sikatuna) in Bohol.

Dapitan means "a place for rendezvous or meeting place". Dapit literally means, "invite". Perhaps Lagubayan invited other Boholanos to the place, hence, the name.

Dapitan was not the only place with Boholanos as the first settlers. Villaba in Tacloban was discovered by Boholano traders in the later part of the 18th century. The Boholanos were also the first settlers of Zamboanga, where many people up to now speak Cebuano with a Boholano accent. There is also a claim that Pagbuaya’s son, Pedro Manook, aided Legazpi in his conquest of Manila and Camarines. Manook subdued the village of Bayug (now Iligan City), which he established as a Christian settlement in 1626.

Bohol Today

Bohol is the tenth largest island of the country. It was created as a province on March 10, 1917. It produced Francisco Dagohoy, who led the longest revolt against the Spaniards in Philippine history. The revolt took the Spaniards 85 years (1744-1829) to quell. It also gave the Philippines its fourth president in the person of Carlos P. Garcia. Garcia was president of the 1971 Constitutional Convention when he died.

Bohol has a population of about 1.3 million. The annual population growth rate is 2.9 percent. The Boholanos today live in the habitable areas of Bohol’s 3,862 sq kms land area. They can also be found in various places throughout the country and the world.

The island-province is well known for its top quality handicrafts made of bamboo, saguran and abaca fibers, romblon, buntal and shell craft. It is also famous for its delicacies like Calamay (made from rice, coconut milk and brown sugar packed in a coconut shell).

Bohol is famous for its Chocolate Hills (1,268 haycock hills that turn green during rainy days and brown in summer). It has one “of the most beautiful eco-marine systems in the world” -- the Bohol marine triangle that covers Pamilacan, Balicasag and Panglao. This area is the habitat of whale sharks, stingrays, dolphins and other forms of marine life. The other famous tourist attractions are the man-made forest and mangrove areas, tarsiers, coral reefs, white sand beaches, diving spots, caves, watersheds, rivers, underground rivers, waterfalls, old churches, bell towers, etc.

Aside from its natural wonders, Bohol is also bursting with talents. It contributes to the nation’s well being by producing highly skilled workers, entrepreneurs, seamen, lawyers, teachers, priests, artists, etc. In addition, its internationally acclaimed Loboc Children Choir could open the gates of heaven with its voices described as “so pure and angelic”.

Wonder no more why Bohol is God’s little paradise on earth.

References:

Agoncillo, Teodoro A. History of the Filipino People. GAROTECH Publishing, 1990 (8th Edition).

Arcila, Jose S. Rizal and the Emergence of the Philippine Nation. 2001 revised edition.

Constantino, Renato. The Philippines: A Past Revisited. Tala Publishing Series, 1975.

Corpuz, Onofre D. The Roots of the Filipino Nation. 1989.

Scott, William Henry. Barangay: Sixteenth-Century Philippine Culture and Society. AdMU: 1994.

Zaide, Gregorio F. Great Filipinos in History: An Epic of Filipino Greatness in War and Peace. Verde Bookstore, 1970.

Zaide, Gregorio. Dagohoy: Champion of Philippine Freedom. Manila: Enriquez, Alduan and Co., 1941.

Critique of the Presidential Form of Government

2010-07-08T23:27:00.000-07:00

by Alan S. Cajes

Being a republic, the Philippines operates on the basis of consent of the governed, a concept that is imported from the US Declaration of Independence (1776), which, in turn, is inspired by John Locke’s Two Treatises on Government (1690) and Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Social Contract (1762). The unanimous declaration of the thirteen united States of America on July 4, 1776 said in part:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness”. (see www.ushistory.org/declaration)

A republic refers to “a government having a chief of state who is not a monarch and is usually a president” and to “a government in which supreme power is held by the citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by elected officers and representatives governing according to law” (see http://www.usconstitution.net/glossary.html#REPUBLIC). The seed of republicanism is planted in Article 4, Section 4 of the US Constitution, which states that the “United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence”.

Government, therefore, exists by the consent of the people who are governed. It is the people who constitute themselves into a State. This is expressly stated in Article 2, Section 1 of the 1987 Constitution: “The Philippines is a democratic and republican State. Sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them”.

It should be noted that republicanism is not something that the Constitutional Commission borrowed from the US Constitution in 1986 while rewriting the Philippine Constitution. Article II, Section 1 of the 1935 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines provides that the “Philippines, is a republican state. Sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them” (see www.chanrobles.com). This provision was, in turn, based on the 1899 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines, otherwise known as the Malolos Constitution, that states in Title 1, Article 3: “Sovereignty resides exclusively in the people” (see www.chanrobles.com).

The concept of republicanism is not something new to the Filipino people. The Ilustrados who studied in Europe could have gotten the idea from the Spanish Constitution of Cadiz of 1812, and the constitutions of the US, Mexico, France, and others.

The Philippine Constitution (and the Philippine government) is inspired by that of the Americans. This needs to be clarified.

The Philippines and the US are similar in the sense that both mandate the separation of co-equal powers that are lodged in co-equal branches of the government, namely, the Executive, the Legislative, and the Judiciary. Under this rule, an executive can neither be a legislator nor be a member of the court. But there are also glaring differences in the constitutional provisions of the two countries. These differences include the following:

In the US, the president is elected for a term of four years and can be elected for another term. In the Philippines, the president is elected for a single term of six years.
In the US, the vice president serves as president of the US Senate. In the Philippines, the vice president may not even be appointed to any position.
The US is a federal republic. Unlike the Philippines, the US is composed of States that have residual powers, and have their own elected governments.
In the Philippines, the president is elected by all qualified voters during a national election. In the US, the president is elected by the Electoral College, which is composed of electors who could not hold any other office of trust within the federal government. Each elector has two votes but is required to cast one vote for a candidate not from the elector’s state. If the Electoral College fails to elect a president by a majority of the votes cast, then the House of Representatives chooses from the top three candidates. Each state, however, is entitled only to one vote.
In the Philippines, more than two political parties are allowed to contest elections. In the US, two parties traditionally dominate the elections, although there is no law mandating that only the Democrats and the Republicans can field candidates.

It is interesting to note that the executive and the judicial branches of government in the US were established in 1787 during the Philadelphia Convention. The US Articles of Confederation in 1777 created only one federal institution – Congress, which is an expression of the Americans’ dislike of the monarchical system of Great Britain. The addition of the branches of government had two objectives: to address the economic depression following the American Revolution, and to create a new government.

Clearly, the US presidential form of government evolved in response to the unique challenges that the American people faced. In the case of the Philippines, the US presidential system of government was customized to the unique requirements of the Malolos Republic (for example, the legislature was superior to the executive and the judiciary in order to prevent the rule of the uneducated generals who were loyal to President Emilio Aguinaldo) but was adopted in the 1935 constitution (except for the unicameral legislature and the unitary system of government). In the 1987 constitution, the same presidential system is in effect, with some modifications. This time, there is a bicameral legislature, and a stronger supreme court. Lest it be forgotten, the 1973 constitution did not technically change the form of government from presidential to parliamentary because then President Ferdinand Marcos exercised the “powers of the President and of the Prime Minister” (Agoncilio 1990: 576).

The presidential systems of government in the Philippines and the US are, therefore, similar in terms of the foundational principles but different in many respects. Thus, to claim that the Philippines is better off with a presidential system because such system works quite well in the US is tantamount to an overstretching of the political imagination. The federal republic system in the US, for instance, gives the States residual powers and authority to elect their respective governments; hence, the States have a high degree of autonomy. Under this system, the States will go on even if there is a gridlock between the president and congress. In contrast, the system in the Philippines concentrates political power in the national government, through the president. This makes the local government units highly dependent on, and beholden to, the national government. A gridlock between the president and congress will have a significant impact on the local governments.

Given this, the other remaining reason for keeping a presidential form of government is the fear that the proponents of the shift will become the beneficiaries of the parliamentary system. But since it is only the first year of the new administration, then the fear is not wholly founded. The proponents of the shift are identified with the previous administration of Mrs. Macapagal-Arroyo. Besides, the change in the system of government can be effected towards the end of the term of the new administration. This implies that every possible contender for the position of prime minister will have sufficient time to prepare.

What may be considered as the strongest reason for keeping a presidential form of government is that the people want to elect their president directly. Perhaps, the election of a president, the head of state, can be done by universal suffrage, although this will require more budget than having the president elected by an electoral college. But it is high time to adopt a parliamentary system of government due to the following main reasons:

Principle of knowledge: To ensure better scrutiny of the qualifications of the candidates. Having members of parliament elected by legislative districts would allow the voters to have an opportunity to know the candidates well. In national elections, voters hardly know the people they are voting into office; hence, they vote for the popular candidates although they pale in comparison to the qualifications of their opponents.
Principle of cost-effectiveness: To save money. Having members of parliament elected by legislative districts will cut election spending.
Principle of efficiency: To ensure executive-legislative alignment of priorities and programs. Having members of parliament as agency heads will most likely produce laws that are responsive to the needs of the nation while at the same time within the priority of the party in power. This will also avoid the executive-legislative gridlock.

The possible bases for keeping a presidential system of government can hardly stand criticism. The system has flaws, such as the following:

Having a fix term of office implies that even if the incumbent president has very low satisfaction rating and performance level, the president cannot be removed from office unless the term of office expires or the president is impeached;
Having a single term of office implies that a popular and good performing president cannot serve for another term;
A president may not be part of the political party that controls the Senate and the House of Representatives; hence, creating a difficulty in having legislations that will support the programs of the executive branch;
Electing a president and the Congress is tantamount to what Juan Linz called as dual legitimation. If the president and the Congress oppose each other, both can claim direct mandate from people;
Election of the senators by universal suffrage does not guarantee that the voters know their candidates well;
The senate does not have clear constituents, unlike the members of the lower house; hence, it is not clear whose interest they are representing, and;
The cabinet members derive their authority not from the people directly but mediated though the president; hence, they are primarily accountable to the president.

Note: Many of the ideas contained in this article are gained from readings of various writers, chiefly John Locke, Thomas Jefferson, Florentino Hornedo, Teodoro Agoncillo, Horacio de la Costa, Apolinario Mabini, Claro Recto, Onofre Corpuz, Norton Long, and L. Sandy Maisel, among others. Maisel authored a very short introduction on American political parties and elections published by the Oxford University Press in 2007. An eighth edition of Agoncilio’s “History of the Filipino People” was published in 1990 by GAROTECH Publishing.

Should we change our form of government?

2010-07-04T06:35:00.003-07:00

by Alan S. Cajes

Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her son, Rep. Diosdado Arroyo, filed House Resolution No. 8 "calling for the Constitutional Convention to propose amendments to the revision of the 1987 Constitution." Pundits like Fr. Joaquin Bernas, SJ was quoted as saying that the proposal “might get going again next year” and not this year since the country just held the national and local elections. The administration of President Benigno S. Aquino reacted by hinting the formation of a Charter Change Commission to determine the need for a constitutional change.

Regardless of the intentions of those who are proposing and opposing constitutional amendments, one critical decision that needs to be made is whether or not the form of government be changed from the present presidential system to one that is parliamentary. In the presidential set up, authority emanates from the people and exercised by three co-equal branches of government: the executive branch, which implements laws; the legislative branch, which enacts laws; and the judicial branch, which settles actual controversies involving rights, and determines any abuse of discretion of any branch or instrumentality of the government. In the parliamentary system, the members of the executive branch come from the members of Parliament or the legislative branch.

There are other important features of the two forms of government. These features will be discussed in subsequent articles.

The basic tenet of a republican state is expressed in Article 2, Section 1 of the 1987 Constitution: “The Philippines is a democratic and republican State. Sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them”.

Sovereignty is the modern term for political authority. It essentially means supreme authority within a territory (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy).

Because sovereignty is derived from the people, the process of deriving such sovereignty is of utmost importance. In the current presidential system of government, the three co-equal branches of government perform distinct sovereign functions. On the part of the legislative branch, sovereignty is derived directly from the governed through voting in an election. Thus, the senators and the representatives are elected directly by the people. On the part of the executive branch, only the president and the vice president are elected directly by the people.

The government officials and the staff are therefore performing sovereign functions that are ultimately derived from the authority of the president. The same is true with the justices and judges of the judicial branch. The political authority of the courts is derived from the people through the president. It should be noted, however, that certain appointments of the president require the confirmation of the Commission on Appointments, which is composed of representatives from the Senate and the House of Representatives.

The direct electoral mandate enjoyed by the senators and the representatives is, according to one view, an important consideration in giving more political value to the legislature as compared to the executive department or the bureaucracy. In this view, the legislature is more important in the sense that it directly receives its mandate from the sovereign; hence, more representative of the people. That is why congress debates and enacts laws that the executive department merely implements. Although the president can “play politics” and ask congress to enact urgent laws, it is still congress that has the final say whether or not the policy of the president or of the bureaucracy can be translated into legislation.

The legislature, therefore, is the “one supreme power,” as political philosopher John Locke would have it, “to which all the rest are and must be subordinate”. The president, being a remnant of the monarchy, is relegated to a lower degree of importance and simply tasked to implement the laws enacted by the people through congress. This is one of the key arguments for a shift to a parliamentary system of government.

This political reading is important in the sense that it has an intellectual appeal although it may not jive with the political culture that prevails in the Philippines. Here, the executive is approximated more political value than congress for various reasons, chief of which is that the former has more money to spend than the latter. And the reason why the president is accorded a higher degree of importance than the members of congress is that the people are likely longing for a physical symbol of the State, someone who embodies their identity, ideas, and ideals. This is probably the strongest argument in favor of a presidential system of government. The Philippines today is a republican state by virtue of its form. In substance, however, there is a tension between regalism and liberalism.

Another point to consider in selecting the form of government is the view that a strong bureaucracy is increasingly regarded as the fourth “co-equal branch of the government”. Although the bureaucracy does not possess legislative powers, it has managed to formulate and implement policies that congress is unable to legislate. And despite the absence of judicial powers, certain branches of the executive department perform quasi-judicial functions. The bureaucracy has also been able to establish listening posts for the people, although the effectiveness and validity of the process of listening to, and converting the, will of the people to policies and programs are deployed differently.

Inspite of these innovations, there is still much to be desired in as far as the levels of competence and professionalism are concerned in the executive department. However, it could not be denied that the bureaucracy has the potential to become stronger when nurtured well by competent and professional chief executives, regardless of whether they are presidents or prime ministers, although the opposite could also be true. A strong bureaucracy, therefore, can thrive under a presidential or parliamentary system of government. And so can a weak one.

So, what is the reason for amending the constitution in order to change the system of government?

Perhaps the reason to change the form of government is because we have failed miserably in reaping benefits from our collective experiment of the presidential system of government.

Is religion important in creating a sustainable future?

2009-11-01T11:24:00.000-08:00

by Alan S. Cajes

There is overwhelming evidence that human beings have damaged Planet Earth in catastrophic proportions. The earth’s ecological systems are in jeopardy. The myriad water bodies are no longer teeming with fish and micro-organisms but struggle to survive against humanity’s onslaught with pollution and toxic and hazardous wastes. The lands are no longer covered with pristine and diverse vegetation but bear the brunt of the dominant species that prides itself with steel and concrete. The air is no longer the domain of the birds and the home of the clouds but is the dark shroud that brings acid rain, powerful hurricanes, and destructive typhoons. As if these are not sufficient, man altered the climate and puts his survival, including that of billion other species, in serious and seemingly irreversible risk. Foul air, dirty water, depleted resources and global warming. These are the costs and the consequences of the social, cultural, religious, economic, political and scientific achievements of the most intelligent of all species – homo sapiens.

Why is a human being capable of such horrendous and despicable evil? If he can build massive pyramids, tall buildings, gigantic ships, bullet trains, rocket ships, giant computers, why can’t s/he maintain clean air, clean water, productive lands, and intact coral reefs and forests? If he is capable of great scientific and religious thought and deep wisdom, why can’t s/he keep God’s creation from desecration? If he is capable of communion with God and the Saints, why can’t he maintain a harmonious relationship with nature?

Thomas Berry traces the root of the environmental crisis to man’s alienation from a functioning universe or a cosmos. Human beings today live in a fragmented world. S/he lives in communities, political factions, firms, associations, towns, cities, nations, civilizations, or cultural traditions. S/he ceases to live in the world that God created. S/he lives in a world that s/he has fashioned with his or her own hands. S/he no longer lives in a world that has value per se. S/he lives in a world that has economic, financial or money value. S/he no longer lives in a world that sustains life. S/he lives in a world that is sustained by life. S/he no longer lives in the world. S/he exists in a world.

Empirical and reductionist science accelerated the alienation of human beings from the cosmos. Francis Bacon initiated the tradition of experimental empiricism in Britain. Rene Descartes propounded dualism, the theory of reality that separates res cogitans or mind from res extensa or matter. Galileo combined the experimental empiricism of Bacon with the rationalism of Descartes resulting in a material and mathematical theory of reality or the scientific method. Isaac Newton went further and claimed that science should separate the human observer from nature being observed. This approach effectively transformed nature into objects and commodities. As a realm of things, nature became an unchartered territory that man could study, conquer, exploit, and mold to satisfy man’s quest for betterment, progress or development.

Seyyed Hossein Nasr complemented Berry’s assessment by pointing out that the withering of consciousness as a principal reality from man’s consciousness has resulted in the reduction of the diverse levels of reality into a single level. Reality is reduced into elementary particles - quarks, leptons and bosons. The spiritual dimension has vanished. Science has caused the separation of spirit from matter. As a consequence, the logos, the consciousness or the spiritual reality of the old religions and mysticism has ceased to be the arche.

This paradigm has deep and profound implications to man’s view and relationship with nature. The cosmos has lost its divine origin and character. It is simply matter and its forces. The theory of the big bang has been proven and has served as a dominant explanation on the beginning of the universe. With this, “in principio creavit Deus caelum et terram” is supplanted by “the universe expanded from an extremely dense and hot state and continues to expand today”.

With God out of sight and out of the mind, religious truths and dogma have become valued artifacts in a Museum of Human Knowledge.

Governance Issues and Prospects in the Philippine Energy Sector

2009-11-01T10:56:00.000-08:00

by Alan S. Cajes

Note: This article was written as an output for the Energy and Clean Air Project funded by USAID. The paper reflects the opinion of the writer.

The report of the Philippine Governance Initiative in 2006 came up with an overall assessment that states:

“The Philippine Team has found that electricity governance in the Philippines needs much improvement, in all areas of governance: transparency and access to information, participation of all stakeholders especially the weaker stakeholders, accountability and mechanisms for redress, and in building the capacity of both institutions of government and civil society.”[1]

This overall assessment is substantiated in a report that identified five main lessons. These lessons are:

1. Achieving good governance in the electricity sector starts with the policy process;
2. Effective regulation needs to put in place the right rules, but this is not enough;
3. Transparent, accountable, competent agencies of government are needed in order to have good governance in the electricity sector;
4. The government and its creditor/donor agencies must disclose the role played by the latter, and
5. Equally if not more important is the participation of weaker stakeholders[2].

In 2008, a technical working group composed of representatives from the Energy Family, identified issues that are related to governance. These are presented below.

PRIVATIZATION

Manualization of Privatization Guidelines

COMPETITION

Timely disclosure of market information among WESM participants
Strict enforcement of WESM Rules e.g., imposition of penalties to minimize breaches and promote a culture of compliance and discipline among WESM stakeholders
Undertake Performance Audit of WESM including PEM Committees including development of Performance Standards for the Market Operator
Review PEM Board Composition and Governance Structure
Continuous review and updates WESM Rules and manuals
Facilitate Transition to Independent Market Operator
Ensure effective and efficient performance of all service providers by developing standards of performance
Implement the IPPA Program

SUPPLY SECURITY

EPIRA Amendment on cross ownership
Institutionalize proper disclosure of information

TOTAL ELECTRIFICATION

Develop Capacity Building Program for ECs to implement off-grid electrification e.g., solar, mini-grid operations
Clarify the roles of DOE, NPC-SPUG, NEA and other players in the implementation of rural and missionary electrification
NPC to develop and adopt a Manual on Preparation of its Missionary Electrification Program including its best practices
Revisit NPC-SPUG Roles in existing areas and those areas with New Private Power Providers (NPPs)
DOE to issue a Circular on the Preparation of Missionary Electrification Development Plan (MEDP) incorporating the policies and programs to be adopted
Establish a One-Stop Shop for PSP Program including Monitoring and Coordination
Create a Core Group, within the EPIMB, to prepare and develop the MEDP
Develop Capacity Building Program for DOE, NEA and NPC on planning and implementing PSP Program and MEDP
DOE and ERC to reconcile the UC-ME and the MEDP
ERC to institutionalize MEDP evaluation and UC-ME determination

According to the 13th EPIRA Implementation Status report (Period Covering May to October 2008), one of the preconditions to open access and retail competition -- seventy percent privatization of the generating assets of NPC in Luzon and Visayas -- is nearly completed. The Energy Family has also assessed the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) Rules, particularly on the governance and operational aspects of the electricity market operation as envisioned in the EPIRA. The other updates during this period are as follows:

1. Privatization of 14 NPC generating assets with an equivalent of 69 percent level of privatization[3];
2. PSALM will continue sell the NPC’s decommissioned power plants and other non-operating assets[4];
3. Power generation business of SPUG will be offered to private sector, known as the New Private Power Providers (NPPs)[5];
4. NPC’s debt was reduced by 18% from $7.01 billion at the end of 2007 to $5.7 billion as of end of 3rd quarter of 2008. The loan prepayments helped reduce the country’s debt burden, improved PSALM/NPC’s liability profile, and diminished its exposure to foreign currency risks[6];
5. PSALM will ensure timely filing for Universal Charge[7] to cover stranded debts and/or stranded contract costs;
6. Creation of a Technical Working Group composed of the DOE, Department of Budget and Management (DBM), National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) and DOF. Among others, the TWG looked into the possibility of implementing certain initiatives which could help in lowering electricity rates[8];
7. The WESM commercial operation in Luzon is still under the supervision of the Department of Energy (DOE), which heads the Autonomous Group Market Operator (AGMO)[9];
8. Demand-side participation in Luzon is sluggish although three (3) additional electric cooperatives (ECs) have registered as direct participants[10];
9. The Market Surveillance Committee (MSC), an independent body tasked to monitor the performance of the market, has made several recommendations to the PEM Board[11];
10. The Rules Change Committee (RCC) has approved some proposals, including amendments to the WESM Rules and Manual on Pricing Error and Price Substitution due to Network Congestion, proposed changes to the PEM Audit Manual, and proposed changes to the PEM Board Structure;
11. The DOE is now in the process of reviewing and improving the market rules currently implemented in the Luzon spot market to ensure that the declaration of commercial operation in the Visayas will result to real competition and eventually lower electricity prices;
12. Gross generation from power plants using imported fuels like coal and oil reduced to 6.77 percent and 13.72 percent respectively. With the high utilization of indigenous resources for power, self-sufficiency in first semester of 2008 increased to 67.99 percent compared to 64.34 percent than it was in first semester of 2007, and
13. In support of the Government’s efforts to alleviate poverty, the DOE launched a massive and focused action to increase and accelerate access to electricity services by the country’s unenergized communities[12].

In brief, the legal, regulatory and institutional frameworks for reform in the energy sector have been largely put in place. Around the middle of 2006, the wholesale electricity spot market became operational. The transmission and distribution tariffs are being regulated. What need to be fulfilled are the objectives of making the sector financially viable and privatizing the assets of NPC.

Drivers of Energy Reform

The EPIRA[13] is designed to achieve the following objectives:

1. Create and enable legal and regulatory environment to support competitive markets in electricity;
2. Restore the financial viability of NPC in the period prior to privatization;
3. Unbundle and corporitize NPC’s operations to facilitate the introduction of competitive markets in electricity;
4. Establish the open access transmission system needed to support competitive markets in electricity;
5. Establish the open-access distribution system needed to support competitive markets in electricity;
6. Improve the operational efficiency of the distribution subsector to enable it to actively participate in competitive markets;
7. Promote energy efficiency and demand-side management to supplement efficiency gains from competitive markets;
8. Mitigate the social impact of the transition to competitive markets, and
9. Ensure environmentally sustainable power generation.
10. These measures are expected to accomplish the following:
11. Promote competition in power generation and distribution[14];
12. Enhance the inflow of private capital;
13. Broaden the ownership base of power generation, transmission, and distributions;
14. Minimize the government’s financial and risk exposure;
15. Ensure quality, reliability, security, and affordability of power supply;
16. Rationalize electricity prices, and make them competitive and affordable; and
17. Where warranted, provide transparent subsidies to nonviable operations[15].

The long-term development vision of the government focuses on achievement of steady growth in per capita incomes, elimination of poverty and social and economic inequities, and protection of the environment and natural resources.

Ultimate Outcomes of the Energy Sector

A few years after the reform process has started, the energy sector technical working group has identified the key problem facing the sector. This is the need to ensure supply security and competitive rates to fuel economic growth. The underlying theme is summed up in this equation: No Brownout = No Shortage = Sustained Economic Growth. There are three (3) underlying problems to the key problem, namely, energy insecurity, uncompetitive rates, and areas that have no access to modern energy services.

Taking off from the direction set by the technical working group, this part of the paper makes a distinction between the ultimate outcomes and the ultimate objectives of the country’s energy system, including the EPIRA reform process that is still being implemented. The purpose of this exercise is to guide the different stakeholders in appreciating the direction of the reform process.

In doing this, it should be borne in mind that the energy system in the country (from generation to consumption of electricity) is just a means to an end. It is not the end. Although there are performance issues in the energy sector, these issues are what the people or stakeholders care about. Now, there are features of the energy system that may cause poor performance (like high overhead cost of distribution utilities or DUs). Fixing these features, however, is a means to better outcomes; hence, not an end in itself.

The proposed outcomes of the energy sector are productivity, customer satisfaction, and financial risk protection. Productivity is linked to improvement in economic performance. It is based on the assumption that access to electricity will result in economic development. In fact, studies have shown that a certain increase in capacity will lead to an increase in the performance of economic indicators, such as gross domestic product (GDP). Productivity encompasses the underlying theme identified by the technical working group: No Brownout = No Shortage = Sustained Economic Growth[16].

Customer satisfaction basically means that the customers are willing to pay the electricity tariff because it is affordable and competitive, and that they are satisfied with electricity generation, distribution, and transmission. This is the ultimate outcome why there is a need to ensure quality, reliability, security, and affordability of power supply. To fully appreciate the importance of customer satisfaction, it is instructive to recall the key issues prior to EPIRA.

The issues are surplus capacity and high operating cost associated with IPPs contracted by NPC, high debt-service burden of NPC, transmission bottlenecks, high power losses, absence of economies of scale, inefficient operations, and high distribution overheads among the many fragmented and small RECs. This translates to high cost of electricity. According to DOE Secretary Angelo R. Reyes:

“Concomitant and integral to our quest for securing our energy future, we are working with solutions to protect the developing Philippine economy from the volatility of fossil fuel prices through a more diversified and stable energy mix in power generation that will result to sustainable and reasonably-priced electricity rates. We are, however, confronted with the challenge that, on the average, about 60% of energy sources utilized in the power generation mix come from fossil fuels primarily oil, coal and natural gas. Moreover, the Philippines still has one of the highest power rates in Asia[17].”

Financial risk protection essentially means that the financial and risk exposure of the public sector is minimized. With competition in place, the private sector is expected to make investments in the sector. The inflow of private capital would therefore make power generation, transmission, and distributions open to investors who consider their investment as commercially viable. This way, government funds can be used for other purpose, market risk shifts from the public to the private sector, government’s financial and risk exposure is minimized, and the heavy financial burden of power sector development from the public sector is transferred to the private sector. The government, therefore, benefits from the power sector restructuring[18].

Intermediate Outcomes of the Energy Sector

There are intermediate outcomes expected from the energy sector. The intermediate outcomes are neither the problems in the sector nor the causes of the problems. They are intermediate between the ultimate outcomes and causes of the problems. The intermediate outcomes of the energy sector are related to efficiency, equity, access, and quality. In other words, the intermediate outcomes translate to energy security (access and quality), competitive rates (efficiency), and total electrification (access and equity)[19].

To achieve the energy outcomes and pursue the intermediate outcomes, the governance or policy control knobs that are available are financing, payment, organization, regulation, and persuasion or behavioural change. Financing refers to the way energy programs and projects are funded. Financing can be done by private sector players who use their own fund to implement energy programs and projects. They can also pool funds from various sources and use these funds to finance their operations. Payment refers to the manner by which payment for energy services is done. In particular, the use of lifeline rates falls under the payment control knob. The subsidies given to certain types of consumers also fall in this category. Organization refers to the capacity of individuals and institutions to perform their respective roles effectively. Training interventions and other types of capacity building, such as technical assistance and coaching, fall under the organization control knob. Regulation refers to the role that the Energy Regulatory Commission is performing in the energy sector. Finally, persuasion or behavioural change is related to information, education and communication activities that are designed to make the target audience demonstrate a certain type of behaviour. Advocacy programs related to energy conservation fall under the persuasion control knob.

The application of the control knobs will greatly vary from one issue or problem to another. It is recommended that one control knob is used with the other relevant control knobs. For instance, energy audits of commercial and industrial establishments can be regulated through legislation. However, regulation alone could not achieve the desired result, which is to make energy conservation a way of life. Persuasion is equally important. In fact, the policy direction is to develop a market-driven energy conservation program instead of enacting a law that will enforce compliance with energy conservation requirements. In addition to persuasion, the organization control knob is important. In other words, the capability and capacity to conduct energy audits and implement energy conservation measures should be available.

POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

Energy security

Energy security is usually defined in terms of reliable and affordable access to energy supplies. Reliable energy supply does not automatically lead to energy security if the cost of accessing electricity is prohibitive. Similarly, affordable electricity rates could not lead to energy security if the supply is unreliable or not available when needed.

It is useful to distinguish energy security from energy independence. Energy security does not necessarily mean that the sources of energy are within the territorial jurisdiction of a country. One country can establish energy supply contracts with another country and can still attain reliable and affordable electricity. Energy independence would require one country to meet its energy requirements from sources within its own territory.

It is therefore possible for local government units, especially the island provinces and municipalities, to have energy independence. Energy independence, however, is not desirable as a goal in itself. In the case of the Philippines, it is nor feasible to pursue energy independence at this time or in the near future.

Energy security in the country is directly affected by two factors: one, the generating capacity of NPC is no longer capable to ensure national power supply security, and two, low additional generation capacities by the private sector.

In the Philippines, a large number of existing energy production capacities will have to happen in the short, medium, and long-terms. Such infrastructure will require investors who will be facing challenges posed by a liberalized market, environmental constraints, and the governance structure, systems and processes in the country down to the local level. Given the performance of the country in energy structural reform program, the incentives to invest in new capacities offer few incentives, particularly in terms of rates of return and risks when compared with other investment areas.

Policy Directions

In the short term, maintaining a reserve stock is important for energy security. What the country needs, however, is proper macroeconomic policy framework that will address the need for comprehensive plans to minimize energy supply risks. The policy framework should consider the following recommendations:

• Tie up the concern for energy security with reduction in energy consumption by aggressively pursuing efficient energy use. Among others, the emphasis on demand side management (DSM) should be given sufficient attention. There is a need for government to establish the DSM system, including the mechanism to monitor compliance with the DSM framework, and take appropriate remedial action where necessary. The government also needs to formulate incentives for DSM and source funding for DSM programs. Demand side management becomes important because it will lower the total cost of investment required.

• Apply or use appropriate principles and techniques in designing communities, especially urban planning. Energy supply and demand analysis should be brought down to the local level and should be considered in the preparation of comprehensive land use plans, among others.

• Pursue active energy conservation program, time-of-the-day pricing of electricity, and the consequent shifting of power demand by consumers and reduction in peak demand. This would help prevent new capacity additions[20]. Energy efficiency, therefore, should be seen as an opportunity to maximize the use of existing capacity. It should not be equated with foregoing the development of new capacities.

• Energy efficiency also helps in addressing global warming. It will also lead to significant environmental and economic benefits. Energy efficiency is essential in reducing the growth in fossil fuel demand and lowering energy prices, enhancing energy security, and reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases.

• Although adoption of renewable energy sources for power generation should be given due attention, oil-based power plants will continue to be a major component of the electricity grids, especially in island communities, remote areas, and sparsely populated areas where other options are not feasible.

Competitive Rates

As mentioned above, the affordability of electricity is an element of energy security. But given the importance of electricity tariff as an object of reform in the energy sector, it merits to be considered as a separate intermediate outcome.

The introduction of competitive markets in electricity is expected to improve governance related to supply conditions. With the absence of government monopoly in the supply of electricity, the private sector is encouraged to bring in private capital and invest in commercially viable power generation projects. Through this process, the market risk is transferred to the private sector. And because the market is presumed to be efficient, the competitive market in electricity is expected to exert downward pressure on electricity tariffs[21].
Based on the experience of Singapore, the market has given incentives to companies to reduce costs. In addition to lowering operation costs, the companies are looking for cheaper fuel. Overall, market reforms in Singapore have increased competition among the industry players and have benefited consumers. This experience has enabled the government to adopt the theme that “expensive electricity is no electricity at all”.

The energy reform package of the Philippines does not specifically promise that electricity tariffs will be reduced after completing the process of reform. Nevertheless, there was at least a theoretical underpinning that electricity rates will go down as a result of the reforms given the experiences of other countries. There were even estimates done as regards the effect of market competition to electricity rates[22]. Accordingly, power rates will go down to long-run marginal cost (LRMC) levels. This is attributed to reduction in distribution overheads, among others.

Policy Directions

Given the situation that the expected downward trend in electricity tariffs is yet to materialize, the question now is how to ensure that the power rates become competitive. The following policy directions are intended to help achieve this objective:

1. Independent and transparent regulation is needed in setting tariffs and it is imperative to use market-based pricing. This however, requires giving the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) fiscal autonomy and independence to minimize political and other interventions. This also requires ERC to practice good governance. Various elements of good governance in the electricity sector contained in the Governance Toolkit of the Electricity Governance can be used as reference in improving performance in this dimension[23].
2. There is a need to re-examine cross-ownership if it leads to uncompetitive practices[24]. This, however, requires sufficient information to ensure that uncompetitive practices are being done. On the part of ERC, there is a need for sufficient powers to detect and prevent such anticompetitive behavior. In addition, sufficient expertise to determine the operating cost of all the installed units should be available or accessible.
3. Establishing competitive electricity markets and adopting market pricing mechanisms that will benefit the consumers are important strategies[25]. In relation to this, there is a need to study the setting up of an independent market operator that can be privately run. In terms of the composition and governance structure of PEMC, there is a need to bring in qualified and independent-minded board members who can make decisions based on the interest of society, in general. There is also a need to ensure that there is sufficient number of participants. This aims to prevent generation companies from forcing up the market-clearing price.
4. Tariff structures should consider strategies like promoting energy conservation, providing penalty for peak-hour and peak-season consumption, as well as discouraging the use of electricity that has poor power and load factors. Accordingly, if the peak demand of power exceeds the installed capacity, the system marginal price during periods when load is being shed is equal to the cost of unserved demand. Therefore, regulation is needed to specify a price cap to prevent excessive profits.
5. Cross-subsidies from one class of consumers or areas to another should be minimized and be made transparent, quantifiable, targeted, and can be phased out in the medium term by designing appropriate social safety nets. An alternative could be government subsidies to households that avail of the lifeline rates[26]. Lifeline rates to consumers who have very low monthly consumption could be an acceptable strategy.
6. One way of reducing the cost of electricity is scrapping the VAT on electricity. It is also possible to scrap the royalties on indigenous energy[27]. Estimates point out that a reduction of PhP0.16/kwh can be done by removing natural gas royalties. The impact, however, of this measure will not be felt immediately. The government uses the royalties to pay for the excess energy being delivered by the Malampaya natural gas operations[28].
7. For DUs to actively participate in a competitive market system, they need to be of sufficient size to attract competition between generators, have the ability to make sound bids in the competitive market, and have the financial resources needed to back up those bids[29]. The economies of scale can be pursued through structural and operational reforms to achieve efficiency[30].

A policy on disconnection for delinquent customers may need to be formulated because the financial viability of buyers is important to reduce the suppliers’ risk of nonpayment.

Training and other forms of capacity building are important for power sector reform and restructuring. The Energy Family and the industry players need management skills, technical knowledge about new technologies, and good governance capacity (including financial management). Therefore, human resource development, within the context of organization development, is an important long-term investment.

Under EPIRA, the NPC assets are sold and large utilities are unbundled in the process. The NPC assets are sold to the private sector, except for those assets that are still covered by contracts and administered by another party. The private sector participates in the privatization efforts but make a bid based on their own assessment of the revenue-earning potential of the assets. There are factors that influence the sale value of the power sector assets. These factors include the following: Investment climate in the country; Level of consumer tariff; Transparency in regulatory procedures; gains that potential investors hope to achieve from other investments; Value assigned to making an early entry into the sector or country; Financial strength of other companies in the industry and of customers, and the instrument of sale".

These factors need to be nurtured properly if competitive power rates are to become a reality in the near future.

Total Electrification

One of the key issues in sustainable development is “energy poverty in the midst of plenty”. This is recognized during the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), which gave prominence to energy and its relationship to poverty eradication and sustainable development. In this context, the access to energy services becomes an important condition to achieve the poverty alleviation goal of the United Nations, which is to reduce by half the number of people living under US$ 1 a day by 2015. Thus, policies and measures that address energy access must be given the highest priority in national energy sector planning.

Although access to modern energy services is not part of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), various scholars have pointed out that the MDG target could not be attained without energy access. A large number of people who live below the poverty threshold depend on the use of old biomass-based technologies that pose health risks and even death to the poor. Thus, it is not stretching the imagination too much to assume that the MDG targets can not be achieved without access to modern energy services[31]. Access to modern and reliable energy services remains essential for sustainable human development, economic growth, higher quality of life, and better delivery of education and health services. In other words, access to energy is essential to poverty reduction initiatives.

The electrification program in the country is facing challenges since most of the unenergized barangays are remote, disperse, and difficult to electrify. The program requires more resources, time and efforts. To achieve the goals of the program, it is necessary to integrate rural and missionary electrification efforts through a collaborative effort of the public sector, private sector, civil society organizations, and donor institutions.

The DOE has programs and projects lined up to expand access to electricity services. These programs cover the 1) provision of cost-of-capital subsidies of solar photovoltaic battery charging stations, individual solar home system, micro-hydro systems, and wind turbine energy systems; 2) innovative service delivery to promote sustainability of the projects and ownership by the beneficiaries, and 3) grid connection and off-grid electrification through the ER 1-94 Electrification Fund[32].

The NEA provides technical, financial and institutional assistance to electric cooperatives (ECs) to ensure the provision of the reliable and adequate electric services in their respective franchise areas. NEA’s subsidy program covers barangays and sitio electrification. It has a set of criteria to prioritize the beneficiaries.

The NPC-SPUG provides small-scale power generation and associated power delivery systems in areas that are not connected to the main transmission grid. It is currently serving 75 small islands nationwide. The NPC-SPUG’s implementation is dependent on the availability of the share of Missionary Electrification from the Universal Charge (UC-ME).
Since the DOE provides policy direction and over-all program management as regards electrification program, it is important to consider the following:

1. Come up with a clear policy to expand access to electrification;
2. Formulate an action framework that clearly identifies and determines the roles of key stakeholders, such as the local government units, other government agencies, private sector, civil society organizations, people’s organizations, donor institutions, distribution utilities, and qualified third parties[33];
3. Review and evaluate the previous programs and projects, especially those related to renewable energy system, to identify what went well and what went wrong, as well as use the information in crafting the policy and the program of action;
4. Document good practices in other countries for possible replication in the country and for avoidance of programs and projects that are bound to fail in the long run;
5. Build local and institutional capacity to implement and sustain programs and projects, especially among the local government units and the local distribution utilities;
6. Strengthen the capacity of higher education institutions to provide knowledge and technical support to program and project implementers and partners;
7. Conduct policy fora to discuss the problem of rural electrification, including experts’ and citizens’ conference, and
8. To the extent possible, outsource the implementation of programs and projects to organizations or institutions that have experience, track record, competence, mandate, and capability to run the programs and projects so that the DOE could focus on monitoring and evaluation functions.

Policy Directions

There are a number of technical options that are available to ensure energy access for all. The options include grid extensions, mini grids, and off-grid systems based on renewable energy sources. The maximization of the renewable energy’s contribution into the power requirement of the country will take time, and at best within the range of 40-60 percent. As DOE Secretary Reyes pointed out:

“While we have taken that big step towards clean energy utilization, our calculations estimate that the contribution of renewable energy sources to the country’s power requirement is projected to be between 35% to 55% until the year 2030. This is of course subject to technological developments and cost considerations, specifically in the area of storage technologies. Assuming that the maximum share of 55% from renewable energy sources will be utilized in the power generation mix, the remaining 45% gap will have to be supplied by reliable base load capacity[34].”

The initiative towards total electrification should be implemented in a comprehensive manner so that the target customers can maximize their benefits. One critical issue that needs to be addressed is quality of supply, especially during peak periods.

Although there is no argument against the need to pursue renewable energy, it is important that a comprehensive review and assessment of previous programs and projects is done to determine success factors, gaps, and avoid a repeat of the past failures. Besides, renewable energy projects also have significant negative impacts that need to be prevented, mitigated or controlled.

Among the policy directions that are required to pursue total electrification are the following:

1. In view of the objectives under the MDGs and the WSSD, the national energy policy should satisfy the basic needs of the population who have no access to modern energy services. Therefore, there is a need for a clear policy to address the needs of people who are considered energy poor because they have not benefited well from conventional energy policies. It is critical that energy poverty is recognized as one of the key social determinants of well-being in view of the significant rural-urban inequities in energy supply and consumptions.

2. Ensuring universal access to electricity requires “ambitious” national electrification program as integral elements of national sustainable development frameworks. At the national level, there is a need to launch national programs, projects and initiatives on renewable energy and efficient clean energy technologies to provide energy services to people, especially in off-grid areas.

3. The commercial, industrial, and high consumption residential consumers are subsidizing the poor. If these cross subsidies are removed, the poor will have to pay more for their electricity consumption. Although it is expected that the government will continue to maintain as certain level of subsidy, it is likely that the phasing out of cross subsidies, particularly of the poor, will be carried out slowly over time[35].

4. The removal of the economic subsidies will lead to higher tariffs for these sectors in some areas of Visayas and Mindanao. This, in turn, will lead to lower productivity and unemployment in these sectors. Job loss is expected to create a new class of poor, who are likely to have greater debt problems and psychological problems compared to the established poor. It is important that government provides assistance to the affected population so that they could adjust to the new environment.

Cross-cutting Policy Directions

The process of implementing the EPIRA faces a number of risks. One, the creation of a wholesale power market will largely depend on the ability of the government to ensure an open access policy. Two, there is a need to guard against the possible anticompetitive behavior of the industry players, chiefly the distribution utilities and the newly formed generating companies. Three, there is a significant risk that is related to the human and institutional capacity for dealing with complex issues brought about by the restructuring program.

That is why good and effective governance becomes an important ingredient for a successful energy reform. The absence of good and effective governance can severely impair the implementation of energy reform initiatives. Governance, therefore, need to be given the same level of prominence as technical and economic considerations of reform. Ultimately, the preconditions for full EPIRA implementation are governance concerns that are linked to transparency, accountability, rule of law, etc.

Within the context of good and effective governance, it is imperative that the energy policies of the government must ensure the following:

1. A leveled playing field;
2. A supportive policy and regulatory environment in order to encourage private sector participation;
3. An energy market that considers the total cost to society of its energy choices is created;
4. Enabling conditions to support national systems of innovation and technology transfer like targeted training programs, information access, strengthening scientific and technical educational institutions, technology assessment and demonstration projects, etc.;
5. Strategic, coherent and coordinated framework to support national implementation, and
6. Energy access plans that include actions for national, regional, and local government levels cooperation.
7. Emphasis on accountability, participation, predictability, and transparency—the basic elements of good governance, therefore, need to be given due importance in the same level as complex technical elements of reforms.
8. For instance, the private sector would require transparency and accountability, in addition to the possibility of realizing a reasonable rate of return, to actively participate in the generation subsector. Inefficiencies, such as perceptions of corruption and bureaucratic red tape, will not only discourage potential investors but will also increase the cost of generating and supplying power at the expense of the consumers. Various forms of corruption in the energy sector are a growing concern in good and effective governance.
9. Following the proposal of George Soros and in line with the need for transparency, energy companies could make public disclosures of taxes, royalties and other payments to governments. According to the World Economic Council (WEC), corruption adds to the cost of energy, thereby making it more difficult to bring commercial energy to the poor. WEC enjoins its members to “make ethics a strong component of energy system governance”. In line with this, WEC recommends the following ingredients:
10. Voluntary governmental and corporate energy and/or environmental audits;
11. Transparent contractual relationships;
12. Common safety and environmental rules;
13. Best business practices for company plants, and
14. Respect for energy workers and customer choice.

There is a need to disclose information, including the technical ones, so that the different stakeholders could understand the issue besetting the sector. Disclosure and transparency about the general terms of contracts are keys to protection of the rights of the consumers. They also help promote integrity in the sector.

The good practices that the energy sector should consider to improve corporate governance include the Access Initiative for effective engagement of the stakeholders in decision making, the global reporting initiative for reporting performance, and the formulation of service charters.
In support of good and effective governance, the cross-cutting themes discussed below should be pursued by the energy sector.

Informed Participation of Stakeholders

The energy challenges facing the country require the active and informed participation of all stakeholders. It may require the establishment of energy councils at the national and local levels to allow the development of greater expertise among users with regard to energy conversion and end use, among others. Such energy councils would be a point of diffusion of information to users on important topics like details on energy efficiency measures and energy prices, information on environmental externalities, on renewable energy sources, and information on the impacts of energy investments. The information provided will allow energy users to make informed choices regarding their preferences (technology, housing, type of fuels used, etc.) and help them initiate conventional, new, and renewable energy projects which could trigger more sustainable development.

The energy councils will help the national and local governments to attain energy, environment, and other relevant directives. They could represent energy users and ensure that their rights are respected. They could also serve as the conduit through which users (civil society) can participate in an informed and independent way.

Critical discussions of issues with the participation of the civil society organizations and independent researchers could shed light on the problems we are facing, foster collaboration among the stakeholders, and could result in a synthesis whereby innovative approaches are identified to meet the challenges.

Lack of public involvement from the earliest stages of the reform process has often led to destructive failure and has discouraged potential investors in a restructured energy industry. It is therefore important that policies and programs of action in support of energy reform benefit from constructive and meaningful stakeholders participation.

Technical and economic issues are necessary elements of energy sector reform. In themselves, however, they are not sufficient. Political issues are equally important. Good and effective governance —rule of law, transparency, accountability, etc. — is considered as critical to achieve sustainable energy sector reform[36].

Environmental Sustainability

Environmental sustainability is usually taken to mean that the environmental resources, capacities, and services of ecosystems are not degraded beyond the acceptable limits of the natural environment. At present, the most pressing concern is the impact of climate change to various areas of human life, including energy generation. Climate change could severely affect rainfall patterns, thus posing a significant challenge to water-based energy generation plants. Climate change could also exacerbate the occurrence and impact of natural disasters, thus posing dangers to energy infrastructure from generation to transmission.

It is high time that countries, like the Philippines do not only set goals in relation to promoting environmental sustainability, like reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and use of renewable energy systems, but also consider the impacts of environment-related disasters in energy planning activities at the national and local levels.

DOE Secretary Reyes has verbalized the agency’s commitment to environmental sustainability. He said:

“As a signatory to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the subsequent Kyoto Protocol, we are fully committed to doing our part in addressing global warming even though we are not legally bound to impose a national limitation on emissions. In our efforts to ensure that the use of energy must not damage our environment…[37]”

All energy sector investments, therefore, will have to meet environmental safeguards, including those aspects that are critical in getting social acceptability, such as involuntary resettlement, impoverishment risks, etc.
The environmental and social aspects of the agencies that have critical roles in the energy sector also need to be clarified. For instance, the health, environmental, and social aspects of energy programs and projects require clear rules of engagement among DOE, DENR, DOH, DSWD, and DTI. Although the government has been using the environmental assessment system to look at environment and social issues, it is important that this system is not reduced to a mere fragment of paper that only adds expense to energy project development.

Capacity Building

Capability building to improve institutional capacity is indispensable to effectively promote reforms and good governance. Human resource development is considered as a long-term investment to enhance the effectiveness of the energy sector.

The government needs to develop human and institutional capacity at all levels. The capacity-building interventions should cover areas like policy and strategy development, intra-governmental coordination, regulatory capacity market restructuring, project cycle management, financing and resource mobilization, etc.

Roles of DOE

The DOE will be in a good position to provide good information and create the environment that is conducive for a rational stakeholder to give contributions into:

1. Selection of energy supply and investment in electric generation;
2. Determination of full-cost pricing;
3. Maintenance of the quality of service;
4. Design of energy efficiency measures, and
5. Promotion of renewable energy and other issues of interest to the users and to all citizens.

With DOE serving at the same time as the energy planning agency, it is in a position to strengthen the technical rigor of the energy planning process, formulate clear and coherent policies and action plans at the national, local and utility levels with the full participation of the academe, consumer groups, and civil society organizations, among others.

For inter-agency cooperation and cooperation with UN bodies and the Bretton Woods organizations, there is a need for a joint and coordinated strategic plan of action for energy reform that is in accordance with national plans, priorities and programs. Such a plan should be translated into an operational framework for action that all stakeholders can understand, support, and believe in.

REFERENCES
Asian Development Bank. Energy Policy, ADB Policy Paper, June 2009;
Asian Development Bank. Key Indicators. 2007;
Asian Development Bank. TA 4151-PHI: Promoting Good Governance in the Restructured Power Sector
Asian Development Bank. Report and recommendation of the President to the Board of Directors on a Proposed Loan and Technical Assistance Grants to the Republic of the Philippines for the Power Sector Restructuring Program, November 1998
Bureau of Treasury website www.treasury.gov.ph
Department of Energy website www.doe.gov.ph
Department of Finance website www.dof.gov.ph
Governance for Sustainable Development, A foundation of the future, edited by Georgina Ayre and Rosalie Callway.
Hélène Connor, Robert Gould, Rod Janssen, Christophe Rynikiewicz, “New governance imperatives for energy planning in liberalised European markets”
Malaluan, Nepmuceno A., “The Need to Challenge the Private Sector Fundamentalism of the IFIs in Power Sector Program.” Paper presented at the Privatization of Infrastructure Seminar held 5-6 January 2003 in Hyderabad, India as part of the Asian Social Forum.
Modi, V., S. McDade, D. Lallement, and J. Saghir. 2006. Energy Services for the Millennium Development Goals. New York: Emergency Sector Management Assistance Programme, United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Millennium Project, and World Bank
National Statistics Coordination Board www.nscb.gov.ph
Natsuko Toba, Welfare Impacts of Electricity Generation Sector Reform in the Philippines, ERD Working Paper No. 444, June 2003.
Senate of the Philippines Policy Brief, June 2008
Senate Economic Planning Office, Five Pillars of Growth, An Economic and Social Development Framework, 2004.

________________________________________
[1] GRIPP, Philippine Electricity Governance Initiative. WRI: June 2006, p. 8
[2] Ibid.
[3] As of December 2008, the privatization level reached 73.3 percent with the successful bidding for Panay-Bohol and Amlan.
[4] The EPIRA mandated PSALM to choose, through public bidding, Independent Power Producers Administrator/s (IPPA/s) who will administer, conserve, and manage the contracted energy output of NPC-IPP contracts. PSALM recommended adopting the Ownership Approach with the use of back to back contract between PSALM and the appointed IPPA. The back to back contract will reflect the applicable provisions of the original Energy Conversion Agreements (ECAs) between the IPP and NPC. The responsibilities, benefits and risks which can be legally and commercially transferred from NPC to the IPPA will be included in an IPPA Agreement between PSALM and the IPPA .
[5] To facilitate the implementation of this policy, the DOE issued Department Circular No. 2004-01-001 on 26 January 2004 which declared open for private sector participation (PSP) all existing SPUG areas and mandated the conduct of and set the procedures for the competitive selection process as required by the rules on privatization of the Commission on Audit. The selection of an NPP is guided by the following considerations: 1) ability to achieve the lowest long-term cost of power and services; 2) environmental compatibility with the local area, AND 3 most advantageous implementation schedule. However, the lengthy bureaucratic process in securing and complying with certain regulatory requirements and approvals from both the national and local governments is inevitably affecting the financing and implementation of a power project. Thus, an NPP is expected to assume a complete take-over of SPUG generation within two to three years.
[6] The prepayment enabled NPC/PSALM to save on interest payments and guarantee fees that can be used to prepay the other loans of NPC to further trim its stranded debts.
[7] The Universal Charge (UC) is a non-bypassable charge, mandated under Section 34 of the EPIRA, to be imposed on all electricity end-users, including self-generation entities, for the following specific purposes: 1) Payments for stranded debts and stranded contract costs; 2) Missionary electrification; 3) Equalization of taxes and royalties applied to indigenous or renewable sources of energy vis-à-vis imported energy fuels; 4) An environmental charge for watershed rehabilitation and management, and 5) A charge to account for all forms of cross-subsidies. The UC is collected from all end-users every month by the National Transmission Corporation (TransCo) and distribution utilities based on the approval made by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) and remitted to PSALM every 15th of the following month.
[8] The initiatives include the following: 1) Review the VAT on systems loss; 2) Review of the systems losses/caps on recoverable systems losses; 3) Review and renegotiation of power supply contracts; 4) Implementation/rationalization of National Wealth Tax for LGUs/Regions; 5) Review and rationalize Lifeline Policies and Subsidies; 6) Implementation of Open Access and Retail Competition within Economic Zones; 7) Review of Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) Rules; 8) Review of the implementation of the NPC Php4.11/kwh flat rate; 9) Implementation of Time of Use Rates and Demand Side Management (DSM) Program at the distribution level; 10) Review power purchasing practices of distribution utilities; 11) Conduct diagnostics of the status of EPIRA implementation of all relevant stakeholders; 12) Audit the operation of National Power Corporation and TransCo in relation to rates, and 13) Review and validate the operation of Distribution Utilities in coordination with the Energy Regulatory Commission. The provision of lifeline rate subsidy is allowed by Section 73 of the EPIRA. To date, the lifeline subsidy is enjoyed by mostly marginalized residential end-users falling within the lifeline level determined based on consumption while subsidizing class are the non-lifeline residential end-users as well as the industrial and commercial consumers. In the height of clamor for lowering the electricity rates, the expansion and improvement of lifeline coverage was proposed by various consumer groups that even the Bureau of Trade Regulation and Consumer Protection/Department of Trade & Industry (BTRCP-DTI) has moved a petition with the ERC for the approval of the New Lifeline Rate for Marginalized End-Users in Accordance with the provisions of Sections 43(j) and 73 of the EPIRA.
[9] The implementation of the WESM is one of the key features of the EPIRA. Under Section 31, it is a pre-condition for the implementation of open access and retail competition.
[10] These are: 1) Sorsogon I Electric Cooperative, Inc. (SORECO I); 2) Benguet Electric Cooperative (BENECO), and 3) Tarlac I Electric Cooperative, Inc. (TARELCO I). The total eight (8) direct-member customers comprised only around five (5) percent of the prospective 163 customer participants.
[11] These include 1) Review on the Investigation Report of the Enforcement and Compliance Office (ECO); 2) Analysis on the Competitiveness of the Visayas Electricity Market; and 3) Request for investigation on the possible breaches of the WESM Rules (i.e., non-compliance with the must offer rule and the real time dispatch schedules).
[12] Prior to the launching of ABEP, barangay electrification level stood only at 76.9% having a recorded electrified barangays of 32,281 out of 41,980 total barangay coverage. By the end of 30 September 2008, the ER Program had already energized 40,775 barangays or 97.13% electrification level with only 1,205 unenergized barangays nationwide remain.
[13] The key issues prior to the reform include the following: surplus capacity and high operating associate with IPPs contracted by NPC; high debt-service burden of NPC; transmission bottlenecks; high power losses (overall average system loss sustained by all rural electrification cooperatives (RECs) was 18 percent with a high value of 39.2 percent); and absence of economies of scale, inefficient operations, and high distribution overheads (overall average markup of all RECs was 771.1%, with a high value of 283.7 percent) among the large number of fragmented and small RECs. A combination of these difficulties has resulted in Philippine power rates being the second highest in the region.
[14] The government plans that competition will determine generation tariffs, but the tariffs for the wires portion of distribution tariffs, and the transmission wheeling tariffs will continue to be regulated.
[15] Electricity consumers in Luzon are subsidizing consumers in the other grids in a nontransparent manner according to ADB.
[16] In 1990 the Philippines was confronted with a crisis of insufficient electrical generating capacity. Metro Manila and the thirty-three provinces in the Luzon power grid experienced brownouts of up to four hours per day, with the grid averaging a daily deficiency of 262 megawatts. At the root of the problem was the decision by the Marcos regime to build a 620 megawatt nuclear-power plant on the BataanPeninsula. The Aquino government decided not to use the facility because it was located on a seismic fault. As a result, a badly needed expansion of generating capacity in Luzon, which accounted for 75 percent of national electric consumption, did not come on line. The problem was compounded by inadequate planning and bureaucratic delays. There were delays in the building of a facility capable of generating 110 megawatts of geothermal power in Albay Province and a 300 megawatt coal-fired plant in Batangas Province. The short-term solution was to put up a series of gas-turbine plants with a combined rating of 500 megawatts. Only 245 megawatts came on stream between 1987 and 1989. Economists estimated that to achieve a 5.6 percent growth rate in real GNP, the country would need an additional 300 megawatts of generating capacity yearly.
[17] Paper presented by DOE Secretary Angelo T. Reyes in the International Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Energy in the 21st Century, Beijing, China, 20-22 April 2009
[18] Among others, the government is no longer required top provide funds for the expansion of the sector in areas that have a scale of electricity use that is conducive for commercial operations. It no longer assumes demand growth risks because centralized generation planning becomes a secondary tool, and responsibility for determining the right level of generation tariff is transferred to the electricity market.
[19] According to WEC, there are three goals that need to be achieved: 1) energy accessibility; 2) energy availability, and energy acceptability. On the other hand, the long-term goal of ADB’s assistance is to ensure the quality, reliability, security, and affordability of electricity supply in the Philippines.
[20] Increased efficiency of energy use and supply will accordingly yield more service value from each primary energy unit consumed.
[21] Singapore, United Kingdom, and Argentina, for instance, registered downwards trend in electricity tariffs after initiating reforms.
[22] This estimate is based on the assumption that the transition to competitive markets will start in 2000 and will be completed in 2005.
[23] Accordingly, regulatory skills, antitrust and prevention of monopolistic practices, and an appropriate legal and proper corporate governance practices need to be in place to support an effective restructure environment.
[24] An example of an uncompetitive practice is when a distribution company is allowed to buy from allied generators and discriminate against rival generators.
[25] Such markets accordingly need a certain level of sector maturity before they can function effectively. Accordingly, the market would be effective provided the revenue stream available to the generating companies exceeds their variable cost by an amount that is adequate to cover the fixed costs of generation, including reasonable return to the investors. If there is under-recovery, there will be little to encourage new investments in the sector, and if there were over-recovery, the investors in the generating companies would get a high return at the expense of the consumers.
[26] Lifeline rates refer to the subsidized rates given to low-income electricity consumers who cannot afford to pay at full cost as prescribed by the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA). Lifeline rates vary depending on the distribution utility and are set by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).
[27] The government collects a 60 percent share of the net proceeds of natural gas development, 60 percent of the net proceeds of geothermal energy development, and 30 percent of the net proceeds from indigenous coal.
[28] Because of the take-or-pay agreement governing the Malampaya operations, the government has to pay the full amount of energy delivered by Malampaya regardless of whether this energy is utilized or not.
[29] In theory, open and equal distribution access, competition and efficiency gains at the generation level will be passed on to the end-use consumer, as consumers will be able to select the generator of their choice through an open competitive market. Under such a system, DUs will carry power through their wire networks and charge wheeling fees for this service.
[30] The government is expected to identify areas for possible structural and operational reform of distribution operations, conduct appropriate workshops and pilot studies, and encourage area-specific models and methodologies for achieving these structural and operational reforms of distribution operations.
[31] The UNDP has stated that none of the Millennium Development Goals (MGDs) can be met without major improvements in the quality and quantity of energy services in developing countries. The UN Millennium Project, an advisory body constituted by then-UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to recommend practical steps toward achieving the MDGs, argued forcefully that “greater quality and quantity of energy services will be required to meet the MDGs”
[32] Under ER 1-94, power generators and/or energy resource developers are mandated to set aside one centavo per kilowatt-hour (P0.01 per kWh) of the total electricity sales as financial benefits to host communities for electrification, development and livelihood, reforestation, watershed management, health and/or environment enhancement.
[33] Section 59 of the EPIRA and Rule 14 of the EPIRA-IRR stated that “the provision of electric service in remote and unviable villages that the franchised utility is unable to service for any reason shall be opened to other qualified third parties.” Thus, once the concerned franchise holder deems that providing electricity to a barangay or barangays is not commercially viable, then an electric service provider other than the adjacent distribution utility may be authorized to provide the electricity services.
[34] Paper presented by DOE Secretary Angelo T. Reyes in the International Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Energy in the 21st Century, Beijing, China, 20-22 April 2009
[35] It appears that the impact of subsidy removal is relatively small due to the small percentage expenditure on electricity (the 1994 Family Income and Expenditures Survey show only 1.6 to 3.0 percent of the expenditures of households with annual income below the poverty threshold go to electricity.
[36] Technical and economic factors are always included in reform because they are inherent to the process; democratic governance is often not considered because reform practitioners think that they can put it off or avoid it.
[37] Paper presented by DOE Secretary Angelo T. Reyes in the International Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Energy in the 21st Century, Beijing, China, 20-22 April 2009

Opportunities to Improve the Governance of the Electricity Sector: Selected Cases in Renewable Energy

2009-11-01T10:26:00.000-08:00

by Alan S. Cajes

Note: This article was written as an output for the Electricity Governance Initiative Phase 2 implemented by the Ateneo School of Government, Ateneo de Manila University with funding support from the World Resources Institute. The paper reflects the opinion of the writer.

1. INTRODUCTION

The Electricity Governance Initiative (EGI), a collaborative undertaking of the World Resources Institute (WRI) in partnership with the Prayas Energy Group (PEG) in Pune and the National Institute for Public Finance and Policy, developed The Electricity Governance Toolkit: Benchmarking Best Practice and Promoting Accountability in the Electricity Sector and published the pilot version in February 2005. The toolkit was used in conducting a pilot assessment of governance of the electricity sector in the Philippines.

The key objectives were to gather primary and secondary data and identify the strengths and areas for improvement. The Academy’s Center for Sustainable Human Development was involved in the pilot assessment, focusing on the Environmental and Social Aspects (ESA).

The findings of the assessment team are summarized in the table shown below. For ESA, the sector is rated medium for transparency and access to information but rated lowest for accountability and redress mechanisms. Overall ESA rating is low middle.

Table 1. Overall ESA Rating for the Philippines

Governance Principle	Policy Processes	Regulatory Processes	Environmental and Social Aspects	Total Average Score
Transparency and access to information	1.7	2.7	3.3	2.3
Participation	1.0	2.3	2.8	2.3
Accountability and redress mechanisms	2.0	4.0	1.6	2.7
Capacity	2.5	2.9	3.0	2.8
Total Average Score	1.8	3.1	2.7	2.5
Note: A rating of ‘not assessed’ yields a score of ‘0’, lowest = 1, low-middle = 2, medium = 3, medium-high = 4, highest = 5.

This paper focuses on the Environmental and Social Aspects (ESA) and uses selected cases of renewable energy projects to expound the governance principles. The objectives are to show concrete examples whether the environmental and social aspects are considered in the governance of the electricity sector and to pinpoint opportunities to enhance the governance of the said sector.

The table below shows the 21 ESA indicators, together with the corresponding governance principles and rating.

Table 2. ESA Principles, Indicators and Ratings

Governance Principle	Indicator	Rating
Access to Information and Transparency	1 - Clarity of authority and jurisdiction to grant environmental clearances/approvals for power sector projects	Highest
Access to Information and Transparency	2 - Clarity and transparency of the executive’s environmental and social mandates	Medium-High
Access to Information and Transparency	3 - Scope and transparency of the environmental and social mandates of the regulatory body	Lowest
Capacity	4 - Executive’s capacity to evaluate environmental and social issues	Highest
Capacity	5 - Regulator’s capacity to evaluate environmental and social issues	Medium
Capacity	6 - Legislative committee’s capacity to assess environmental and social issues	Lowest
Participation	7 - Public participation in setting minimum environmental performance standards	Medium
Participation	8 - Inclusion of environmental consideration in the national plan for the electricity sector	Low-Middle
Participation	9 - Inclusion of environmental consideration in sector reform process	Low-Middle
Participation	10 - Public participation requirements in environmental impact assessment laws and procedures	Medium-High
Capacity	11 - Comprehensiveness of EIA laws, policies and procedures	Medium
Accountability and Redress Mechanisms	12 - Regulatory response to environmental and social petitions or complaints	Not applicable/ assessed
Participation	13 - Electricity provider engagement with civil society organizations and potentially-affected populations	Lowest
Capacity	14 - Capacity of civil society to address the environmental and social aspects of decision-making	Highest
Accountability and Redress Mechanisms	15 - Quality of the judicial or administrative forums that address environmental and social claims	Highest
Accountability and Redress Mechanisms	16 - Accessibility of the judicial or administrative forums that address environmental and social claims	Lowest
Accountability and Redress Mechanisms	17 - Assessment of job losses linked to policy changes or sector reforms in the electricity sector	Lowest
Participation	18 - Participation in decision-making about access to electricity	Lowest
Participation	19 - Scope for project-affected people to exercise their rights	Medium
Participation	20 - Participation in decision-making related to affordability of electricity prices	Medium
Participation	21 - Participation in development of policies to promote low environmental impact technologies and management	Highest

2. RELEVANCE OF THE ESA INDICATORS

The ESA indicators are relevant given that energy is a “crucial commodity,” which could serve as an “instrument for poverty reduction and social equity,” and given the “environmental dimensions of energy policies”[1].

As a crucial commodity, it may be pointed out that the cost of commercial electricity in the country at 13.58 US cents/kWh in June 2005 was higher compared to countries like Indonesia (at 12.53), Singapore (10.58), Lao PDR (10.49), Vietnam (9.79), Bangladesh (8.62), China (8.24), Malaysia (7.74), Thailand (7.19) and Brunei (3.10) although lower compared to Cambodia (20.00), Japan (17.54), India (14.37), and Hongkong (13.89)[2]. In the same period, the country’s residential electricity rate at 14.43 US cents/kWh was second only to Cambodia (at 15.18) and higher than the rates of India (at 8.47), Hongkong (12.99), IndonesiaSingapore (10.59), Lao PDR (10.49), Vietnam (9.86), Bangladesh (8.20), Malaysia (5.78) and Thailand (8.65)[3]. (10.10),

It is not difficult to see the possible negative impact of the high cost of electricity to the competitiveness of Philippine industries, as well as to the purchasing power of the households. The situation is aggravated by the “projected power supply shortages in Mindanao by 2009, Visayas by 2010 and Luzon by 2012” if the required new capacity is not installed in the next four years [4].

From an environmental perspective, the country’s energy-related carbon dioxide emission, based on 2003 estimates, is 72 million metric tons, of which oil contributed 66 percent, coal contributed 26 percent, and natural gas contributed seven percent. The estimated per capita energy-related dioxide emission is 0.9 metric tons, which is a bit lower than India’s one metric ton per capita and much lower than Thailand’s 3.4 metric tons per capita [5]. Although the Philippine Energy Plan (PEP) extensively discusses programs to mitigate hydrogen sulfide emissions from geothermal plants, no parallel intensive discussion is made to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from coal, gas and oil plants. In fact, the PEP projects an increase in carbon dioxide emissions by 68.5 percent between 2004 and 2014.

2.1 Relevance of the ESA Indicators to Renewable Energy

In 2004, geothermal and hydropower plants contributed 14 and 20 percent, respectively, to the total installed capacity mix [6]. Under the 2005 PEP update, the Department of Energy (DOE) aims to double the country’s renewable energy-based capacity, as provided under the Renewable Energy Policy Framework (REPF). The identified technologies are those that will harness energy from water, biomass, sunlight and wind.

There are realities, however, that must be confronted when promoting renewable energy RE) technologies. Says former DOE Secretary Raphael Lotilla:

“One, the reality of the high upfront cost of renewable energy. Second, the limitations as to site-specificity of many of the renewable sources of energy available to us. Thus in order to be able to tap the geothermal resources of this country, we’ve had to build expensive transmission lines connecting the different islands of the country to bring the energy supply from the source to the markets. And third, of course, the limitations themselves on the availability of renewable energy. Given the present state of technology, the amount of renewable energy available to the Philippines as a whole would not be adequate to meet the needs of a growing economy”[7].

Lotilla told his audience that the Philippines has made a decision to invest in RE and cleaner energy projects although “fullest assistance” is required “in order to be able to move forward significantly on this front” because RE projects “right now are costing us 2.5 to 3 times the cost of conventional sources of energy”[8].

Another challenge that the electricity sector faces is the difficulty of convincing the stakeholders, especially the communities, that the energy sector can meet the environmental standards of the government. As Lotilla emphasized:

“[t]he burden of showing or convincing our communities that indeed they can rely both on government and on private sector to be responsible in the implementation of environmental laws and standards is a burden that lies not on the community but upon us. And so here we need to harness the academic and scientific community that will allow us to give enough information to the communities that would give them a higher level of comfort as to the ability of the government and private sector to live up to the highest standards of environmental protection. This is a major challenge for us, but definitely it is not an impossible task”[9].

2.2 Considerations in Implementing RE Projects

Even for rural communities that may not be connected to the grid, the use of RE technologies in such areas should not only be aimed to provide electricity to the households, “but should also achieve measurable improvements in terms of addressing the poverty-environment nexus identified as both a source and a symptom of underdevelopment [10].” Thus, there is a need to design RE projects based on previous performance in the use of such technologies. Some of the lessons learned from the experiences of development institutions, such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank (WB), in several countries, including the Philippines, draw attention to the need to: “(i) provide microfinance options for technologies with high front-end costs like solar photovoltaic energy systems; (ii) understand the market characteristics of renewable energy, including the willingness and capability of the poor to pay; and (iii) build capacity among stakeholders.[11]”

Take the case of the use of solar cells or photovoltaic (PV) devices that convert sunlight into electricity. This technology “is most competitive” in far-flung communities that are not connected to the grid and do not require large supply of electricity [12]. The ADB designed a pilot project in Afghanistan that would show the following:

· Improvement in the quality of life;

· Successful program implementation through community-based approaches, and

· Achievement of “sustainable human development” by enabling the communities to manage the technology.

The project’s design is primarily based on the assumption that the technology does not only provide “an appropriate solution for heating, cooking, and lighting in rural areas, but also contributes significantly to progress in education, health, agriculture, and rural industry and other income generation activities that could help reduce poverty.[13]”

Although PV has been shown to be feasible, there are limited case studies that “directly resulted in tangible and measurable improvements in the income of poor communities on any significant scale.[14]” ADB cites the following as among the probable causes:

· The high initial costs of technology, which the poor cannot afford;

· The limited number of locally relevant productive applications suitable for alternative energy;

· The poor communities’ limited or no access to supply markets;

· The absence of efficient technology service providers and of suitable projects in remote areas that could be bankable through financial institutions; and

· The lack of support from the central energy ministries, because their mandate is energy provision and not income generation for the poor [15].

2.3 Lessons Learned from Philippine Experience [16]

As of February 2003, about 5,409 or 18 percent of the country’s 41,999 barangays were still unelectrified. The country’s target is one hundred percent electrification of barangays by 2006. Since 1,671 or about 30 percent of the non-energized barangays have little or no prospect to be connected to the grid system, the government pursued the use of new and renewable energy (NRE) technologies to provide these areas with electricity.

As a matter of policy, the government decided to “facilitate the energy sector’s transition to a sustainable system with NRE as an increasingly prominent, viable, and competitive fuel option.” By the end of 2001, the country had “5,120 solar and 380 wind installations with contribution equivalent to about 0.3 million barrels of fuel equivalent (MMBFOE). From 1999 to 2001, about 1,000 barangays were electrified using NRE technologies including solar, micro-hydro, and hybrid systems.”

When the government sough ADB’s technical and financial assistance in 2002 to rehabilitate the RE projects in the country, the DOE has set as a long-term goal a 100 percent increase in NRE-based capacity over a ten-year period, i.e., by 2012. By 2012, the NRE contribution, specifically from solar, wind and ocean energy, was planned to reach three (3) MMBFOE. As early as 2002, the government has set the following targets:

· Be the top geothermal energy producer in the world;

· Be the top wind energy producer in Southeast Asia;

· Double its hydro capacity by 2012; and

· Expand the contribution of biomass, solar, micro-hydro, and ocean by 250 megawatts.

The government’s strategy to achieve the target includes accelerating the promotion and commercialization of NRE systems. The DOE also set up the NRE program with the following objectives:

· Reduce poverty;

· Enhance energy self-sufficiency;

· Encourage private sector investment and participation, and

· Reduce emissions by applying cleaner energy systems.

In addition, the DOE pursued the “gift of light” program, which was intended to provide electrification to all barangays and to provide the necessary rural infrastructure through NRE technologies. There were 1,500 barangays that were programmed to be electrified using NRE systems.

According to ADB, the country’s NRE project interventions are to a large extent dependent on the support by the development financing agencies, such as the Global Environment Facility (GEF), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), WB, and bilateral agencies such as the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and United States Agency for International Development (USAID). These agencies have financed NRE technologies like solar, wind, and mini-hydro projects. To streamline and better coordinate these initiatives, DOE is presently implementing the Capacity Building for Renewable Energy Development (CBRED) project, which is funded by UNDP.

An estimated $100 million worth of NRE projects have been carried out in the Philippines since 1970. The projects were mostly initiated by funding agencies. These projects are technology-based. About 20 to 25 percent of these projects was rated as “less than successful”. Some of the projects, including the ADB-financed mini-hydro schemes in the early 1980s, were rated partly successful by the project performance audit report.

The reasons for failure are divided into the following categories:

· Institutional problems, including improper management schemes;

· Lack of stakeholder mobilization and beneficiary participation;

· Technical problems, including lack of skill and spare parts for operation and maintenance as well as technology obsolescence; and

· Financial problems, including high initial and maintenance cost, and high tariffs for consumers.

The ADB, however, noted the recently increasing number of successful NRE projects in the Philippines. The key factor that contributed to project success “is the close collaboration of the beneficiary communities, non-government organizations (NGOs), and private sector for the resource assessment, project design, construction, management, operation, and maintenance of the established NRE systems and related livelihood activities.” It also emphasized the need for future projects to “ensure productive use and sustainable operation of the installed NRE systems” by developing “a renewable energy-based community livelihood opportunities, such as installation of rice mills to increase the value from rice production, mini-ice plants for cold storage of fish products, and provision of skills and training, identification of potential markets, and marketing of products from such livelihood projects.”

Based on the assessment of 106 projects, visits to 23 project sites and workshops with stakeholders, a Technical Assistance Team from ADB came up with the following findings:

· Most projects were unsuccessful due to non-adherence to standards and specifications in equipment installation; weak management structure and ineffective after sales service; and lack of ownership and interest in the project due to negligible monetary or non-monetary benefits;

· Physical rehabilitation, community preparation and facilitation for livelihood linkages were demonstrated for one Solar Battery Charging Station (SBCS) in barangay Bunog in Palawan, and for the twin Micro-Hydro Plants (MHP) in barangays Talalang and Secec-an in Kalinga;

· Capacity building of the involved stakeholders was facilitated for one more MHP in barangay Malabog, Davao and one hybrid (solar-wind-diesel) project in barangay Atulayan in Camarines Sur that can be rehabilitated in the near future;

· The main components of the rehabilitation program are: “(i) system redesign, retrofitting, and reinstallation; (ii) leveraging TA funds with that of local governments, entrepreneur and communities to ensure stakeholder commitment and ownerships; (iii) developing local capacity to manage the projects by selecting, training, and contracting women entrepreneurs in case of SBCS and the local rural energy service company for the MHP to operate and maintain the rehabilitated facilities; and (iv) identifying and facilitating livelihood options linked with the provision of electricity to ensure that NRE projects bring direct benefit to the community.[17]”

In summary, the lessons derived from the country’s experience in implementing NRE projects point to the following:

· The need to establish a proper scheme to manage the project;

· Proper mobilization of the stakeholders and participation of the beneficiaries in all phases of the projects;

· Ensuring the viability of the technology by building up the capability of the beneficiaries to operate and maintain the technology, and

· Ensuring financial viability given the high initial and maintenance cost of the technology and the high tariffs for consumers by providing livelihood projects.

3. ESA GOVERNANCE PRINCIPLES AND SELECTED RE PROJECTS

The ESA governance principles include access to (a) information and transparency, (b) capacity, (c) participation and (d) accountability and redress mechanisms. Each of the governance principle has indicators as shown in Table 2.

3.1 Principle of Transparency and Access to Information

31.a Brief Description

This principle promotes meaningful decision-making by ensuring the transparency and clarity of decisions related to the granting of environmental compliance certificates and/or permits for power sector projects. This also helps in enabling relevant government agencies or bodies to clarify and communicate their environmental and social roles and mandates to the stakeholders.

3.1b Microhydro power project (MHP) in Tinglayan, Kalinga [18]

The beneficiaries of a 33 kW MHP installed in 1999 in Kalinga live in the three upland villages of Tulgao East, Tulgao West (collectively referred to here as Tulgao) and Dananao, located within the municipality of Kalinga, north of the Cordillera Mountain Region in Northern Luzon. The three communities are neighbors and a steep valley, through which flows Bunog Creek, separates Dananao from the Tulgaos. Bunog Creek, from where the MHP system gets its energy, forms a natural boundary between the two tribes. During the dry months, Tulgao is accessible by a four-wheel-drive vehicle. Dananao is never accessible by vehicle, but can be reached by a four hour hike along another route from Tinglayan. It takes around one hour on foot from Dananao to Tulgao.

The two Tulgao villages have 213 households, while Dananao has a further 124 households. The total population is estimated at 1600 people. There has been a steady migration of people to Tinglayan, Bontoc and Tabuk seeking education, work and marriage.

The people in Tulgao belong to the Tulgao tribe and the people of Dananao to the Dananao tribe, both are part of the larger Kalinga ethno-linguistic group. Conflicts among tribes in Kalinga, where disputes commonly arise from border or territorial and resource issues, are nowadays settled through the peace pact. Tulgao and Dananao have a long tradition of rivalry and disputes over territory and, as recently as 1997, a border conflict broke out between the barangays. It is worth mentioning that since the conception and installation of the MHP, any disputes arising between the two villages have been resolved without violence.

There are rice-drying areas in both communities, and recently rice mills were installed that run on the electricity provided by the MHP. A sugar cane press was provided in 2002, but was unused until it was connected to the MHP in November 2003.

Indigenous cultural practices have been sustained in these villages despite the inroads of religion and other external influences. Community rituals covering each stage of rice production in both wet rice terraced farming and swidden, following the traditional agricultural calendar, are still strongly observed and enforced by traditional elders. Community cooperation remains relatively intact for certain traditional activities such as harvesting, forest protection, and emergency assistance to members of the tribe. This strong traditional cooperation has been tapped to build the community-based MHP. The differentiated roles of men and women in Tulgao and Dananao villages are rooted in the typical warrior culture of these indigenous societies.

Aside from agriculture, there are other activities that augment the income of families especially during the lean months of rice and food shortages. These include basket weaving, carpentry, construction or road-building and blacksmithing. Men and women also carry out waged labor on other farms.

In general, both men and women in these upland communities are involved heavily in economic and community work. But rice cultivation has defined roles for men and women in these upland villages. Building rice terraces, land preparation and the repair of rice terraces are in the male domain, although women provide assistance.

Swidden farming in Tulgao predominantly involves women, who play the major part in the production of legumes and vegetables. Traditionally, it is the women who sow the legume seeds, although men dig the holes for the seeds to be sown. Legumes are sold bywomen in nearby towns for cash. As in wet rice agriculture, women select and store the seeds for the following crop.

Most of the community affairs related to school, church and festivities involve both men and women. Decision-making is a shared role on matters pertaining to households, the family and children, church and school. The women were observed as being predominantly active in school and church concerns.

Community labor for waterworks construction is in the domain of men. In the case of the MHP, however, women shared in some of the manual tasks such as hauling. This was a result of the community mobilization invoked by the lead organizations for this innovative project.

The 33 kW community-based microhydro project (MHP) located in the cluster of remote and upland barangays of Tulgao East, Tulgao West and Dananao in Tinglayan, Kalinga have benefited the three barangays. This project had enabled them to work together in its installation and subsequent operation. SIBAT had undertaken the technical assistance for this project, which was initiated by EDNP and funded by KEEP of Japan. The Tulgao Farmers Association has been the core organization, which has owned the operation and management of the project from its conception onwards. Its members represent the community in this project.

The MHP project site, which provides electricity to the barangays of Tulgao East, Tulgao West and Dananao, was initially surveyed in 1997. The feasibility of the MHP project was established in 1998 which led to the construction of the system and its commissioning in 1999. Research conducted by SIBAT as part of the feasibility study in November 1997 showed that Kalinga was among the least-served provinces in CAR, with less than 16% of its barangays having an electricity supply. The nearest point on an electricity grid was more than 30 kilometers away from the communities and, moreover, operated by MOPRECO whose area of operation was limited to Mountain Province and so did not cover these three villages. The nearest point on KAELCO’s grid, the operator most likely to connect Tulgao and Dananao, was, in 1997, more than 70 kilometers (km) away. Further, discussions with members of these electricity cooperatives revealed that these communities were unlikely to be connected to the grid within the next 10-20 years due to the distances involved coupled with the rugged terrain, which made connection expensive. As of 1996, MOPRECO and KAELCO stated that the installation costs for transmission lines only was about PhP 450 000 per km. Thus, alternative energy sources for these barangays needed to be explored.

The energy consumption in the community before the installation of the MHP was primarily for lighting and cooking, with additional battery-powered flashlights and transistor radios used by some residents.

Each barangay had a small-capacity diesel generator, potentially useable to charge batteries, but the five households in the three barangays who did own rechargeable (car) batteries would take them to Tinglayan or Tabuk to be charged. The Anglican Church had a solar PV system for lighting and battery charging connected to the multi-purpose center in Tulgao West, site of the clinic and reading center.

A needs assessment yielded the community’s desire for better lighting. The reasons given for this emphasis were the cost of kerosene, and the dirty soot that it left behind in the houses. A rice mill was also said to be a good option, to reduce the workload of women and children.

The feasibility study showed that, on average, PhP 38 per month was spent on kerosene, by the minority who used it. The average monthly expenditure on saleng was given as PhP 79 per household per year.

The community’s roles in MHP’s development were through community mobilization and counterpart contributions in the form of labor and locally procured materials. A community plan was developed for the entire installation phase. The roles of the community, the church and SIBAT were outlined in the plan. The community organized various committees to organize the tasks relating to their counterpart role. A watershed preservation and enhancement project was also undertaken in cooperation with SIBAT, with thousands of pine tree seedlings successfully planted. However, this project was discontinued in 2003, just over half way through its planned duration of 2000-2004.

The microhydro project was officially inaugurated in November 2000, with festive ceremonies attended by representatives from many indigenous villages in Kalinga.

The project has been fully operational since then, except for an eight-month shutdown in 2003. The lead organizations involved in the project were the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Philippines (ENDP) and the Sibol ng Agham at Teknolohiya (SIBAT), which divided the tasks between them of organizing the community and providing technical assistance. The project was funded by the Kyosato Experimental Education Program (KEEP). The total investment cost was projected as PhP 2,587, 450, with the value of community work and materials provided locally estimated at PhP 293,000.

The microhydro project uses the energy of moving water to turn a turbine, like a water wheel, which turns a generator and so produces electricity. Bunog Creek has a typical flow of 0.17 m3/sec. It is also tapped for the community’s communal irrigation system. To achieve a 30kW power output, the flow was diverted to a forebay site from where it drops 40 m to the turbine. The powerhouse site is approximately 1.5 km from Tulgao and 1.2 km from Dananao.

The project fulfilled its objectives of providing enough electricity for lighting and small appliance use in over 300 households; as well as in community buildings such as the church, the school and the health clinic. Although the capacity of the system is 30kW, only 4-5kW is currently being used. Two rice mills were installed in 2002, and a sugarcane press in November 2003. These facilities are powered during the day, thus generating additional income for the community and reducing people’s workloads.

The target beneficiaries of the MHP were the entire communities of Tulgao East, Tulgao West and Dananao, comprising of 300 households, plus various communal buildings including the church, a multi-purpose hall, school and health clinics. In practice, the MHP was able to reach around 80 percent of the total population of the three communities. The number of beneficiaries has fluctuated due to the migration of some families to other places. Most of the households have one or two light bulbs in their houses linked to the system.

Some families chose to invest in appliances, and in total there are 21 families with 24 appliances. Aside from own entertainment use, the VHS and televisions are used as additional sources of income, with children in particular paying to watch videos. Payment is one pine pithwood (a log or piece of wood from a pine tree), used for fuel, per show. It was commented that this causes problems within the community as children steal the pithwood. Most of the families able to afford appliances had income from outside employment, such as teachers and government employees.

Most appliance purchases are related to entertainment rather than alleviating household chores. Only the rice cooker, the food grinder and the two washing machines can be seen as in the latter category, and just one sewing machine was bought for productive purposes.

The output from the microhydro plant is primarily used for lighting, with some small appliances, plus for processing farm produce with a rice mill and sugarcane press, and some blacksmithing (making farm implements). The system generally operates from 4.40 pm to 7 am (based on an agreed policy), and during the daytime if needed for the rice mill or lighting for the school. As agreed by the community, each household pays a monthly tariff of PhP 25 for their first 10W bulb and an additional PhP 5 for each extra bulb. For appliances, a household pays an additional PhP 30 per month per appliance.

The MHP is managed by the Board of Directors, and there is a Manager responsible for the day-to-day operations. The Board of Directors is composed of three women and four men. The Manager is the pastor of the Episcopal Church. The MHP has a staff comprising one cashier/bookkeeper, three fee collectors and two operators.

3.1.c Lessons Learned

The MHP enabled some households to pursue income-generating activities, such as tailoring and rice milling, reduced the gathering of pine pithwood, instilled environmental awareness of the importance of forests and their conservation, reduced the incidence of respiratory and eye diseases, and abated the conflict between the Tulgao and Dananao tribes. The single biggest negative impact of the project has been, as a result of the commercial use of Video Home Systems to show films, is stealing to get the PhP 5 (in cash or in kind) payment to watch a film. This problem, however, is currently being resolved through community policies.

The case does not say whether the project promoted meaningful decision-making by ensuring the transparency and clarity of decisions related to the granting of environmental compliance certificates and/or permits by the national, local and community decision points. It did not also show how it helped in enabling relevant government agencies or bodies to clarify and communicate their environmental and social roles and mandates to the stakeholders. No related project has been found to illustrate such attributes of the governance principle.

3.2 Principle of Access to Participation

3.2.a Brief Description of the Principle

There are many ways by which this principle can influence the process and content of decision-making. Based on the indicators, this principle can help in setting the minimum environmental performance standards of the electricity sector, integrating the environmental considerations in the national plans and reforms, and enhance the environmental impact assessment system. It can also facilitate the engagement of stakeholders by the electricity providers, particularly in such areas as access to electricity, exercise of stakeholders’ rights, affordability of electricity prices, and formulation of policies to ensure that the RE technology will nor cause significant negative impacts that cannot be mitigated.

3.2.b PV-battery charging in Malitbog, Southern Leyte

The PV-battery charging station is implemented in Malitbog, Southern Leyte, particularly in the two remote villages of New Katipunan and Cadaruhan Sur.Malitbog (13 km), from the town market (also 13 km) and also from the nearest city of Maasin (55 km), than Cadaruhan Sur. It remains two kilometers away from the nearest electricity grid whereas Cadaruhan Sur is now connected.

Women in the two target areas, just like the men, are involved in development activities and share livelihood tasks with them. Women are prominent in growing and harvesting root crops and cut flowers, small-scale selling in the neighborhood, and layering the single abaca twine. Women also appear to be the more dominant gender in meetings; they often represent the households while the men tend to the farming and other tasks.

The traditional role of women focuses primarily on the rearing of children – from feeding, babysitting, providing child care and health care, to tutoring and overseeing their activities in school, at church and in the community. Apart from this, they have to ensure that food is available at every mealtime, and then wash the dishes and pots. Matters regarding family size and the futures of their children are usually discussed between couples and are mutually agreed upon.

It was mainly the men who were involved in providing assistance in the installation of the PV system: due to the heavy nature of the work, the skills required and their experience such as in hauling materials and equipment and in the installation of lighting fixtures. The women took charge in the preparation of food for the workers. The tasks of collecting charging fees and monthly dues, and keeping records were assigned among the women. Further, the project involves women in the operation and maintenance of household systems since they decide when to switch the light on and off, maintain the battery by cleaning the surfaces and terminals and monitoring when the battery needs to be recharged.

Overall, income from livelihood activities is generally low in Cadaruhan Sur both before and after the electrification program, and average in New Katipunan since the electricity projects provided no benefits to the vegetable garden and farming activities except in abaca twining, which was extended by four to six hours at night time.

Assessment of project performance in each of the two barangays provides insights into the implementation of the project. This off-grid BEP in Malitbog, Southern Leyte, has established the need for sustainable livelihood projects to pay for the electricity. However, the availability of electricity and lighting extends working hours, which can be used for productive livelihood projects.

Before electrification, products were only stored for family use in both barangays. Afterelectrification, products were also stored for commercial purposes in Cadaruhan Sur and only for commercial purposes in New Katipunan. Both barangays need additional training for new livelihood skills. Although program participants have gained new skills, possibly in anticipation of livelihood expansion and initiating new livelihood activities, Cadaruhan and Katipunan villagers still need additional training for new livelihood activities, which offer a realistic promise of income.

Environmental protection has always been considered. DAR, DA and LGU representatives visit and monitor activities in the two barangays. However, no specific targets have been set for monitoring such as assessing community rubbish and human waste disposal, smoke pollution in charcoal making and tree planting along the cleared and sloping sides of the two dirt roads. Generally, the areas of Cadaruhan and Katipunan, as well as the residents, appear environment friendly.

The women expected that the project would extend their available hours for household chores while the men thought they would have more time to repair farm tools and that the children would have better lighting for studying. The community was looking forward to the project enabling families to be together while listening to their favorite radio program or watching TV shows. The newly created Barangay Power Association (BAPA), under the leadership of the LGU, was the overseer and decision-maker in the installation of the PV-BCS and in wiring households. The systems were installed by the supplier. Men were mostly involved in providing assistance in the installation due to the heavy nature of the work, and their skills and experience in areas such as hauling materials and equipment and installing lighting fixtures. The women, however, took charge of preparing food for the workers.

After the PV-BCS and household lighting fixtures were installed, the BAPA was responsible for the operation and maintenance of the systems through hired technicians who were trained by the supplier to do simple repairs and troubleshooting. However, the task of collecting charging fees and monthly dues and record keeping were assigned to women. Further, the project has involved women in the operation and maintenance of the household systems since it is they who decide when to switch the lights on and off, and look after their battery by cleaning the surfaces and, terminals, and monitoring its condition to determine when it is to be recharged.

3.2.c Lessons Learned

The beneficiaries of the project are involved in the installation, operation, and maintenance of the PV system. Although the project had one clear positive benefit, i.e., the extension of abaca twinning by four to six hours per day, it contributed little, if any, in increasing the income of the beneficiaries. The two beneficiary barangays need training on new livelihood skills. Similar projects in other areas, such as the Batanes Alternative Energy and Enhancement Project, do not show details of the income-generating activities. Accordingly, “it is not clear that community solar battery charging stations save households money over regular battery use. Batteries still must be purchased and replaced regularly. However, if residents previously traveled far to a grid-based charging station, the travel time and costs may be eliminated.[19]”

Although the stakeholders have always considered environmental protection as important, no specific target has been set for monitoring. The case also does show how the stakeholders were engaged in identifying the PV system, determining the electricity charges, and in formulating local policies to sustain the project.

3.3 Principle of Capacity

3.3.a Brief Description of the Principle

This principle refers to the government’s ability to provide the public with access to mechanisms related to environment and social decision-making, such as the environmental impact assessment system, and the ability of stakeholders, particularly the civil society organizations, to make use of such mechanisms. Its attributes include the “capacity of government and official institutions to act autonomously and independently; the availability of resources (both human and financial) to provide access; as well as the capacity of civil society (particularly NGOs and the media) to analyze the issues and participate effectively [20].”

3.3.b NorthWind Bangui Bay Project

The NorthWind Bangui Bay Project is a 33 MW (Phase I 24.75 MW and Phase II 8.25 MW) wind power plant located in Bangui Bay, Province of Ilocos Norte, Philippines. Plant production, at a projected load factor of 30%, is expected to produce in annual electricity generation of approximately 86.7 GWh. The project is expected to displace grid electricity generated from fossil fuels and thus avoid 56,788 tCO2e (tons of carbon dioxide equivalent), or 397,516 tCO2e over the first 7-year crediting period.

The first turbine was erected on March 12, 2005. The first turbine went on line, under testing conditions, and delivering the first electrical energy generated by the plant to Ilocos Norte Electric Cooperative (INEC), on April 13, 2005. Commissioning of the first 15 wind turbines under Phase I project occurred on May 28, 2005 when these units completed their initial 100 hour reliability performance. The Conditional “Taking Over Certificate” was issued to the wind farm contractor on June 20, 2005 for the operating turbines and the 30 MVA sub-station and the 69 kV Transmission Line. Phase II of the project is scheduled to be commissioned end 2007.

The project falls under Sectoral Scope #1 for Renewable Energy, with Project Activity described as “Grid-connected renewable power generation; electricity addition from a wind power project.”

The Project’s Sustainable Development Monitoring Plan (“SDMP”) covers the project’s area of influence and inhabitants. Based on audit findings, the project has provided silt barriers/canals around the earth excavations and boulders and placed excavated sands away from the tidal zone during construction to prevent possible silting of coral reefs. During construction, 80 percent of the workers were local residents. Other mitigation measures include the adoption of Transco Compensation Guidelines for possible damage to private properties, provision of safe oil and grease equipment and grease and oil monitoring, monitoring of bird collisions, and preparation of a social development plan.

As benefit to the host community, NorthWind has to remit one-centavo per kWh sold to DOE, which will disburse the amount according to the following: 50 percent of PhP 0.12/kwh for electricity fund, 25 percent of PhP 0.12/kwh for development and livelihood plan, and 25 percent of PhP 0.12/kwh for reforestation, watershed management, health and/or environment enhancement fund.

Emission reduction (tCO2) has also been documented and verified in 2005 and 2006 GHG displacements are estimated at 46,960 tons/year for CO2, 802 tons/year for SO2, and 1602 SPM/year.[21]

A five percent discount to the “effective cost of delivered electricity” based on the cost of electricity generated by NPC and TransCO cost of delivering the electricity to INEC will be the savings of the electricity consumers of INEC. The direct benefits to the Provincial Government of Ilocos Norte include REM and Chattel Mortage Registration Fees of PhP 10 million, about PhP 3.5 million real estate taxes to the Municipality of Bangui, business tax of about PhP 1.5 million per year, about PhP 750 thousand per year to host communities, direct employment for the local population, savings from the consumers of electricity in the Province, and a landmark commemorating Ilocos Norte’s position on global warming and environmental protection.[22]

In 2006, the NorthWind Bangui Bay Project generated savings in the amount of approximately US$ 1.4 million (PHP 70 million) for the electricity consumers of INEC.

Primary funding of the Bangui Bay wind project is through the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) , which provided a concessional loan sourced from ABN-AMRO and Nordea Bank of Copenhagen, Denmark, amounting to US$ 29.35 million. The loan is guaranteed by the Philippine Export-Import Agency (PhilExim)[23].

The DENR issued its first Letter of Approval in December 2005 to the NorthWind Bangui Bay Project, confirming that this project activity meets the national criteria for sustainable development. The Project is the first commercial wind power project in the country and in the ASEAN Region, and the first of its kind to be connected to the Philippine main.

The local stakeholders regarded the “project favorably due to the anticipated economic benefits in terms of increased investments, additional tax revenues, improved employment opportunities and transfer of technology… Unquestionably, the project catalyzes the growth in investments, tourism and commerce in the area and the Philippines as a whole and thus instills a greater sense of national identity, pride and commitment among Filipinos [24].”

3.3.c Lessons Learned

The Project’s designated operational entity, Det Norske Veritas Certification Ltd. (DNV), has found out that comments from the local stakeholders “were invited according to the Philippines Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) requirements. No major concerns were raised. Public stakeholders’ input has also been invited via the UNFCCC website, and no comments have been received”[25].

The Project was issued an environmental compliance certificate (ECC) #01 04 04-23 0027-0802 dated 23 April 2004 (Batching plant during construction), ECC#011 00 12-18 0036-1405 dated 18 Dec 2000 (Wind farm), and ECC #01 04 04-23 0024-1404 dated 23 April 2004 (Transmission Line and Sub-station).

The case shows at least two mechanisms by which the public can participate in environmental and social decision-making related to the wind project, namely, the environmental impact assessment system and comments system using the UNFCCC website. It, does not show, however, how the stakeholders used such mechanisms. It also does not indicate whether the stakeholders, such as civil society organizations and media, have the capacity to analyze the issues and participate effectively.

3.4 Principle of Accountability and Redress Mechanisms

3.4.a Brief Description of the Principle

This principle is necessary to hold public and private sectors answerable to the public as regards environmental and social petitions or complaints. It is necessary to ensure that stakeholders can protect their rights to information and participation, as well as challenge decisions that do not take their interests into account. It helps take into consideration the quality and accessibility of the judicial and administrative remedies for environmental and social claims, especially the potential social and environmental repercussions of policy changes or sectoral reforms.

3.4.b Planned Production of Biodiesel from Jatropha for Power Plants [26]

The Philippine Forest Corporation is a wholly government owned and controlled corporation; a subsidiary of the Natural Resources Development Corporation of DENR tasked to undertake agro-reforestation projects and mandated to derive economic productivity out of idle lands. It adapted a simple framework that represents the critical parameters of its program to create economic productivity that can be appreciated by serious investors and farmers as well.

As part of its mandate, Phil Forest shall work with industry stakeholders and partners (farmers, ranchers, woodlot owners, agro-forestry product buyers and producers, families) to achieve a vision of dynamic, self-sustaining and productive development by providing beneficiaries, as well as other stakeholders, access to capital and investments, identifying technologies, and building marketing capabilities to make available every opportunity for economic productivity, long term sustainability and proper ecological stewardship.

Its main goal is to provide assistance to the landless poor, first in acquiring tenurial rights and subsequently in providing support services to its beneficiaries. Through this framework, Phil Forest seeks to transform idle lands and unemployed citizens to productive lands and productive people that will ultimately result in transforming the economy of the Philippines.

Phil Forest is inviting the public to participate in their program to create productivity out of the vast idle lands in the country. It currently holds the rights to an initial area of 375,091 hectares of public forest lands, evidenced by a Memorandum of Agreement with the DENR signed last Sept. 1, 2006, which it will bid out to potential investors that are classified as follows: Landless Families, Small and Medium Enterprises, Cooperatives, NGOs, Single-Proprietorships and Entrepreneurs, Partnerships and Corporations, Industrial Plantation Developers, Local Corporations, and Foreign-owned corporations. This is part of an initial 2,000,000 hectares that will be transferred over a period of time.

Phil Forest, under its “Lupang Hinirang Program” and operating on the basis of the MOA with DENR, will begin distributing usufructuary rights to potential shareholders through auction process.

Phil Forest will conduct the identification, delineation and parcelarization of lands in preparation for the auction of lease-hold rights where the public, including government employees, are included. It likewise seeks to “auction” lease rights for Land to be Developed by potential developers to different types of investors.

Under the Transaction Structure of the 25-year Lease Agreement between Phil Forest and its lessees, Phil Forest retains legal ownership and/or management of the land, leases out the rights to develop the land, helps the lessee to acquire necessary permits from DENR to develop the land, and takes over the land if the Lessee defaults on the agreement to develop. The Lessee shall be the Highest-winning Bidder for the land, obtain the final approval for their Full Development Plan, implement the development plan, construct and install necessary assets, and handle the overall management of the project.

Pre-qualification criteria and requirements for different investor packages are as follows: between 1 to 10 hectare development size for individuals and farmers (family package), 11 to 500 has. for corporations, partnerships, single-proprietorships and cooperatives (SME package), and 501 has. and above for legal and foreign corporations (industrial package).

For the family package, the reserve price is PhP 500 per hectare and the minimum amount of development cost is PhP 1,000 per hectare. For the SME package, the reserve price is PhP 500 per hectare and the minimum amount of the development cost if PhP 20,000 per hectare. For the industrial package, the reserve price is the same but the minimum amount of development cost is PhP 40,000 per hectare.

According to Irwin Santos, former officer-in-charge of Phil Forest, the corporation is working on a project to produce biodiesel, which will be sold to Napocor to displace its bunker oil requirements for power plants. Phil ForestPhil Forest will provide PNOC with the jatropha seeds from the lessees [27]. According to Phil Forest, jatropha grows throughout the country, thrives even with little water, and can be grown quickly even in adverse land conditions. It has a productive age of 35 to 50 years and can start yielding fruits and seeds on the 10th month of its planting. will come up with an agreement with PNOC for the refinery.

Phil Forest estimates the cost of jatropha plant management at PhP 41,394 per one (1) hectare plantation using seedling as planting source. The operating expenses are PhP 25,916 for the first year, and PhP 15,516 per year onwards. The IRR is placed at 30 percent with NPV (@12%) of PhP 83,887. The payback period is four (4 ) years, while the yield threshold is up to 40 percent.

Phil Forest signed a Memorandum of Agreement with DENR-ERDB to qualify and estimate the amount of Carbon Sequestration of the Jatropha curcas L. plant species for purposes of the aforestation/reforestation methodology of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). Phil Forest’s plantations will be submitted as potential CDM projects before the upcoming commitment period in 2008. On June 25, 2006, Phil ForestState Colleges and Universities (SUCS). The contract covers capability building for Jatropha nursery establishment and plantation. On October 9, 2006, Phil Forest contracted the University of Santo Tomas to conduct studies on the optimization of oil extraction and production of biodiesel through the esterification process. signed the Memorandum of Agreement on Research and Development of Biofuels for Enterprise Development with 17

3.4.c Lessons Learned

Phil Forest plans to use crude Jatropha oil (CJO) extracted from Jatropha to produce Jatropha methyl ester (JME) based on trans-esterification with methanol, and to use the resulting Jatropha biodiesel fuel (JME-BDF) as a substitute for diesel fuel. Assuming that JME-BDF is carbon neutral, combusting it as fuel does not entail the discharge of CO2. The planned project, therefore, has the potential to reduce CO2 emissions.

It is not clear, however, how the jatropha oil will be extracted and collected from the lessees. There is also no information about the location of the JME-BDF production plant, and how JME-BDF will be distributed and at what cost. There are no copies of the project feasibility study and business plan that can be consulted. The interview also did not yield such information, although Mr. Santos said that the corporation has a feasibility study. The corporation’s Primer for jatropha plantation does not mention as reference its feasibility study. The Primer discusses mainly the agronomy side. Very briefly, it states that based “on the experience of India, 3 kilos of Jatropha seeds can produce 1 liter of crude Jatropha oil”.

According to Mr. Santos, Phil Forest has no environmental impact assessment study for any of its existing and proposed projects. Since there is no information as regards the total number of hectares that will be planted to jatropa, rated capacity of the JME-BDF production plant, as well as the construction of oil refining facilities and chemical storage facilities, it is difficult to determine the category of the proposed project under the country’s environmental impact statement system. It is also difficult to state the significant positive and negative impacts of the proposed undertaking.

Similar proposals in other countries point to the fact that the financial validity of this type of project does not approximate that of a general commercial direct investment undertaking. If the project is pursued without emission trading, it is deemed as not commercially viable.

Surprisingly, the corporation claims that the IRR of the investment is at 30 percent and the payback period is four (4) years. Its Primer on Jatropha for Biodiesel, however, states that the “return of investment ranges from 0.90 - 0.95 while payback period is between 2nd to 3rd year”. A review of a similar project in Tanzania [28]. showed that the financial IRR would be less than eight (8) percent

In summary, the case presented does not provide information regarding the corporation’s accountability to the public as regards its environmental and social performance given the absence of environmental impact assessment of its programs and projects. The public is left with judicial action as possible remedy for environmental and social claims, if there is any. It is also difficult for the stakeholders to determine the environmental and social viability of the programs and projects given the absence of project feasibility studies and business plans [29].

4. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

4.1 Lessons Learned in relation to the Philippine Agenda 21 Principles

The Philippine Agenda 21 adheres to 15 principles of sustainable development. About nine of these principles are related to the lessons learned from the reviewed RE projects. The principles and the corresponding key lessons learned are as follows:

· Primacy of developing the full potential of the human being. Connecting households to the grid or an alternative system is providing a social service and an opportunity to contribute to human well-being in the form of CO2 reduction, natural resources regeneration, etc.;

· Holistic science and appropriate technology. Choosing the right technology based on the needs or requirements of the target partner-beneficiaries, as well as the available resources;

· Cultural, moral and spiritual sensitivity. Designing projects that nurture local or indigenous knowledge, practices, beliefs, ethics, particularly in areas where there are indigenous communities, people having the same religions affiliation, etc.;

· Self-determination. Integrating this principle in the design of social preparation activities to ensure a meaningful and enlightened stakeholders’ participation;

· Gender sensitivity. Recognizing the important and complementary roles of both men and women in the establishment, operation and maintenance of an NRE system;

· Participatory democracy. Improving the capacity of stakeholders and interest groups to effectively participate in decision-making processes and take advantage in utilizing the participatory mechanisms;

· Institutional viability. Providing capacity-building interventions to improve the ability of communities or people’s organizations to manage an NRE system as an enterprise;

· Viable, sound and broad-based economic development. Purposive and planned identification of opportunities to earn additional income as a result of the availability of electricity in the community, and

· Ecological soundness. Instilling environmental protection, rehabilitation and stewardship in communities, especially in areas where there are microhydro projects.

4.2 Governance and Ecology

These lessons imply that the value of the ESA indicators to governance, in general, is in answering the question: How to meet the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs? This fundamental problem involves two components: One, the ecological problem, which covers the degradation of the ecological systems and reduction in the natural capital stock, and two, the political problem, which includes ineffective governance. The juxtaposition of the terms "ecology" and "governance" is, therefore, both meaningful and relevant considering that among "the most urgent tasks of our time is to understand the implications of ecology for social and political thought [30]." Here, governance is being summoned to address the ecological problem. On the other hand, ecology, both as a science and a paradigm, is seen as a philosophy that can enhance the art and science of governance.

It is clear that the basic problem has something to do with governance, which may be defined as "the capacity of the institutional environment" to manage the interaction among and between individuals and social groups, as well as the public agencies [31]. Robert N. Stavins explains the relevance of governance to ecological issues:

"The fundamental question that needs to be addressed by public policy in the area of environmental protection as we move into the next century is 'What is the appropriate role of government?' This question emerges along three fundamental dimensions in relation to environmental protection... (1) What is the appropriate degree of government activity; (2) what form should government activity take, and (3) what level of government should be delegated responsibility [32]?"

As early as 1994, it has been observed that "contemporary societies are unprepared for global transformations, and present forms of governance are in varying degrees obsolete and not equipped to cope with the needs and opportunities now emerging." Thus, novel approaches are needed to deal with the recent manifestations of traditional problems like "what constitutes 'the good life' and how governance should promote it.[33]"

Starting in the late 90s, it has become customary to compare the performance of the different countries using selected indicators that have governance and ecological dimensions. The 2008 Environmental Performance Index (EPI), for instance, centers on two broad environmental protection objectives, namely, reducing environmental stresses on human health, and promoting ecosystem vitality and sound natural resource management [34]. The Philippines is ranked 61st (the higher, the better) with a score of 77.9. Thailand is ranked 53rd with a score of 79. Vietnam places 76th. In the 2005 Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI), ThailandPhilippines and Vietnam ranked 77th and 127th, respectively [35]. was ranked 73rd, with the

The recent Human Development Report (1007/2008) of UNDP ranks the Philippines 90th and falls within the medium human development classification. Thailand is 78th, while Vietnam places 105th, but still in the same classification [36].

Comparative assessment of country performance requires governments to understand their strengths, as well as identify and exploit opportunities for improvement to make their ratings higher in the long term. Understanding the ESA indicators and using them within the framework of performance excellence in the electricity sector are, therefore, opportunities that must not be forgotten because governance generally "impacts directly on the lives of poor people who are less able to avoid the adverse consequences of poor governance and therefore bear a disproportionate share of the ill effects of systems and structures of governance that do not reflect their interest [37]."

[1] From the presentation of Usec. Mariano S. Salazar entitled “The Philippine Energy Situation, Oil Price Rise and Climate Change” presented during the ADB Conference on November 16, 2007.

[2] Senate of the Philippines-Senate Economic Planning Office, Electric Power at a Glance, July 2005, no pagination.

[3] Ibid. There were no data presented for Japan, China and Brunei for residential electricity rates.

[4] Ibid. Based on the forecasts of the Department of Energy, an additional 9,225 MW of new capacity is needed to prevent the power supply shortages.

[5] United States Department of Energy, Country Analysis Briefs, November 2006.

[6] Senate of the Philippines-Senate Economic Planning Office

[7] Raphael Lotilla, Sustainable Development and Energy: Energy for All; All for Energy, a speech delivered at the Opening of the “Asia Clean Energy Forum: Policy and Finance Solutions for Energy Security and Climate Change” on 26 June 2007 at ADB Headquarters, Manila, Philippines)

[8] Ibid.

[9] Ibid.

[10] Asian Development Bank, Technical Assistance to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan for Poverty Reduction and Rural Renewable Energy Development (Financed by the Poverty Reduction Cooperation Fund), December 2004, p. 2

[11] Asian Development Bank, Technical Assistance to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan for Poverty Reduction and Rural Renewable Energy Development (Financed by the Poverty Reduction Cooperation Fund), December 2004, p. 3)

[12] United Nations Environment Programme, Energy Technology Fact Sheet available at www.uneptie.org.energy (last viewed on August 7, 2007, 9:57 PM).

[13] Asian Development Bank, Technical Assistance to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan for Poverty Reduction and Rural Renewable Energy Development (Financed by the Poverty Reduction Cooperation Fund), December 2004, p. 3

[14] Ibid., p. 2

[15] Ibid.

[16] This part of the paper is taken liberally from Asian Development Bank, Technical Assistance (Financed by the Danish Cooperation Fund for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency in Rural Areas) to the Republic of the Philippines for the Rehabilitation of Renewable Energy Projects for Rural Electrification and Livelihood Development, September 2003, pp. 1-2

[17] Asian Development Bank, Technical Assistance Completion Report, TA 4174-PHI: Rehabilitation of Renewable Energy Projects for Rural Electrification and Livelihood Development, no date, no pagination

[18] A lot has been said about the Casecnan hydroelectric project. In the final report of the electricity governance initiative assessment team, the team used the 150 megawatts (MW) hydroelectric plant and irrigation control facility on the Casecnan and Taan rivers. The project was conceptualized as early as 1983. It was issued an ECC in 1995 by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) – about a decade earlier when the assessment team completed its study. Large-scale hydro projects generally have significant negative environmental impacts, especially if they are built as part of large dam projects. Due to the environmental impacts of such projects, hydro projects nowadays focus on smaller-scale projects. These projects generally have less than ten MW generating capacity. These include mini-hydro that has less than one MW, micro-hydro with less than 100 kilowatts (kW), and pico-hydro with less than one kW. Unless otherwise indicated, this part of the paper is lifted from the work of Feri G. Lumampao, Victoria Lopez and Lisa Go, Gender and Renewable Energy in the Philippines, supported by the APPROTECH ASIA (The Asian Alliance of Appropriate Technology Practitioners, Inc.)

[19] UNDP, The GEF Small Grants Programme at http://sgp.undp.org/download/SGP_Philippines2.pdf last viewed at 11:18 PM, February 25, 2008.

[20] Electricity Governance Toolkit, which is available online at http://electricitygovernance.wri.org

[21] NorthWind Bangui Bay Project Monitoring Report Volume 1, Monitoring Period: May 1, 2005 through August 31, 2006, In reference to: PDD Version 2, December 23, 2005 UNFCCC Reference Number: 0453

[22] See a PowerPoint presentation at http://www.doe.gov.ph/esummit/presentation/Workshop3%20-%20centeno.pdf (last viewed 10:45 PM, February 25, 2008).

[23] See http://www.northwindspower.com/ (last viewed 10:57 PM February 25, 2008).

[24] See “Sustainable Energy and Sustainable Tourism,” a paper delivered by DENR OIC Armando de Castro at the Ministerial Consultations of the Ninth Special Session of the Governing Council / Global Ministerial Environment Forum, Dubai, 7-9 February 2006.

[25] See http://cdm.unfccc.int/UserManagement/FileStorage/DAK2ZZYHISGO8IX7XURVM17FYHZRAV (last viewed 12:10 AM, February 26, 2008.

[26] Unless otherwise indicated, this part of the paper is liberally lifted from http://www.philforestcorp.com/index.html (last viewed 11:06 pm February 25, 2008).

[27] Interview conducted by this writer on February 13, 2008, 8:30 pm at the Development Academy of the Philippines.

[28] Construction Project Consultants Inc., CDM Project Formulation Study for Jatropha Biodiesel Development in Tanzania Summary Report, March 2007.

[29] Mr. Santos confirmed on February 27, 2008 that he has emailed a copy of the feasibility study that covers only their model plantation. He was briefly interviewed at DAP around 6:30 PM.

[30]See Tim Hayward, Ecological Thought, An Introduction (UK: Polity Press, c. 1994).

[31]See Joachim Ahrens, Prospects of Institutional and Policy Reform in India: Toward a Model of the Development State? in Asian Development Review, vol. 15, no. 1, 1997, pp. 111-146

[32] See Robert N. Stavins, Environmental Protection: Visions of Governance for the Twenty-First Century, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, July 23, 1998.

[33] See Yehezkel Dror, The Capacity to Govern, Report to the Club of Rome (Executive Summary). Ciculo de Lectores, July 1994.

[34] For details visit http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/es/epi/downloads.html#content (last viewed on February 27, 2008 at 1:00 pm).

[35] See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_Sustainability_Index (last viewed on February 27, 2008 at 12:50 pm). Note that the two reports are not comparable over time due to differences in data and methodology.

[36] UNDP, Human Development Report 2007/2008 Fighting Climate Change: Human Solidarity in a Divided World. UNDP: Palgrave Macmillan: NY, 2007.

[37] See Andres Gouldie, Is a Good Government Agenda Practical? An Approach to Governance. Talk given at Overseas Development Institute, March 25, 1998.

The Boholano Revolution Against Spain

2009-06-22T21:46:00.000-07:00

by Alan S. Cajes

(Note: This is an attempt to put together and interpret some references about the longest revolution against the Spaniards in the Philippines. This story, however, is not complete. Some local references about the topic are not accessible to me at this time. Hopefully, we can find time to gather other texts (textual, oral or signs) so a better story can be told for our generation and those yet to come).

Francisco Dagohoy led the longest revolt against the Spaniards in Philippine history. The revolt took the Spaniards 85 years (1744-1829) to quell. Forced labor was one of the causes of the revolt. But what triggered the decision to rise up in arms against the Spanish authorities in Bohol was the refusal of a Jesuit priest to give a Christian burial to Dagohoy’s brother named Sagarino.

Dagohoy was a cabeza de barangay of Inabanga, a town in Bohol. Upon the order of Father Gaspar Morales, a Jesuit cura of Inabanga, Sagarino went to the mountains to arrest a Boholano renegade. The fugitive, however, resisted arrest and killed Sagarino in a fight before he himself died.

When Dagohoy learned about his brother’s death, he searched for his brother’s body. He found it and brought the remains to Inabanga for a Christian burial. Father Morales, however, did not agree saying that Sagarino died in a duel. Besides, Sagarino did not receive the sacrament of extreme unction; hence, giving him a Christian burial was contrary to religious practices at that time.

What complicated the situation was the order of the priest to expose the rotting corpse for about three days in front of the Inabanga Church. It is also possible, however, that since the priest refused to grant the request, Dagohoy decided to place the corpse there to force the priest to change his mind. Dagohoy eventually buried his brother without the benefit of a Catholic burial.

These strings of events led Dagohoy to make a vow to correct what he thought was a wrong done to his brother. In the process, he stopped paying tribute to the Spaniards and refused to render the required “forced” labor. He also called upon his relatives, friends and the other residents to do the same and fight.

The ground was fertile for Dagohoy’s call. Around 3,000 Boholanos rallied to his call and joined him in a revolt against Spanish injustice and tyranny. Together with other leading members of the Tagbilaran, Baclayon and Dauis principalia, Dagohoy proclaimed the “Independence of Bohol” in the mountains of Talibon and Inabanga. The concept of independence, however, might not be applicable at that time. What is most likely is that the revolutionaries stopped submitting themselves to the dictates of the Spanish authorities and decided to move to the mountains where they can live on their own in peace.

Up there in the mountains, the revolutionaries established their headquarters, which they fortified with trenches of big rocks, just like the way some upland farmers pile up big rocks on top of another in their farms. They also build dwellings for their families and cleared up some of the forest areas so that they can plant crops for their subsistence. Since Dagohoy has experience in leading a community being a cabeza de barangay, it is safe to assume that he set some rules and norms to maintain peace and order in the new community. When the other Boholanos heard about the revolt, they expressed their sympathy by joining the revolutionaries or by supplying them with arms and money.

From time to time, the revolutionaries would raid the costal towns, assault the Spanish garrisons, loot churches, and kill Spaniards. In one of these raids, they killed the cura of Jagna, an Italian Jesuit priest, and Father Morales. Dagohoy fulfilled the promise he made over the grave of his brother and continued to lead the revolt until his death.

It is unknown when and how Dagohoy died. It is probable that he died of old age or sickness a little before or after the 1800s. What is certain is that the revolution did not end with his death.

The Spaniards were not happy with the Dagohoy-led revolt. In fact, there were several attempts to suppress it. The historian Gregorio Zaide has this to say:

“News of the remarkable success of Dagohoy worried the Spanish authorities in Manila. In 1747 Bishop Juan de Arrechederra, acting Governor-General of the Philippines (1745-1750), dispatched a punitive expedition to Bohol under the command of Don Pedro Lechuga. Commander Lechuga won a few skirmishes but failed to crush the rebellion. In desperation, he sent a commando unit into the mountains to kill or capture Dagohoy, his sister Gracia, and other leaders. The commandos returned empty-handed because they could not penetrate Dagohoy’s fortified stronghold (p. 154).”

The nationalist historian Renato Constantino also narrated Spanish efforts to quell the revolt. He said:

“Perhaps the best indication of the importance and the success of this rebellion may be seen in the persistent efforts exerted by both the State and the Church to negotiate with Dagohoy. After the unsuccessful military attempts to suppress the revolt, it was the Church’s turn to make the effort. Bishop Espeleta of Cebu tried to persuade the rebels to give up their resistance by promising to secure a general amnesty, to find remedies for the abuses of government officials, and to assign secular priests instead of Jesuits to the Bohol parishes. The rebels refused the offer.”

The revolt continued. By 1770, five years before the waging of the American War for Independence against Great Britain, there were already about 30,000 revolutionaries in Bohol.

It was only in April 1828, three years after the arrival of Governor-General Mariano Ricafort, that the Spaniards sent its strongest expedition to Bohol. This is understandable because Spain experienced problems in its other colonies in the 1800s. For instance, the Spanish American colonies revolted in 1810 until 1826, thus severing the link between Acapulco and Manila. It was, therefore, a hard time for Spain. It was no longer a world superpower as it was in the 16th century. And it could not quell the Dagohoy revolution in Bohol.

Probably to help save its face after its defeats from the forces of Dagohoy and its loss of colonies, Spain decided to put an end to the revolt using Spanish and native (like Cebuanos) troops. According to Zaide:

“Fighting with desperate courage, the indomitable Boholanos resisted the enemy, whose heavy artillery pieces caused much havoc to their fortifications and took a terrible toll of human lives. Wearied by the ceaseless combat, weakened by hunger and thirst, and depleted in numerical strength, they made their last stand in the mountain of Boasa under the command of the valiant brothers, Handog and Auag. In June 1829, they fought their last battle and were crushed by Spain’s superior arms. The survivors fled into the forest, where they grimly continued to carry on their hopeless cause (p. 156).”

The revolt ended formally on August 31, 1829. Manuel Sanz, commander of the Spanish forces, officially reported that 3,000 Boholanos escaped to other islands, 19,420 surrendered, 395 died in battle, 98 were exiled and around ten thousand revolutionaries were resettled in the areas of Balilihan, Batuan, Bilar, Cabulao and Catigbian.

These figures all point to the fact that the revolt was widespread in the province; hence, it was not simply a Dagohoy revolt. Dagohoy started it and continued to be a source of inspiration to his comrades even after his death. But it was a Boholano revolution against Spain.

Notes:

1. Some sources claim that the real name of Dagohoy was Francisco Sendrijas and that he is called Dagohoy due to his ability to move like the wind. Literally, the name is a combination of “dagon sa hoyohoy” that means “talisman from the breeze”.

2. Constantino claimed that Dagohoy’s brother, Sagarino, was a renegade who had abandoned the Christian religion and that Father Morales ordered a native constable to arrest Sagarino. Sagarino resisted arrest and killed the constable before he himself died.

References

Agoncillo, Teodoro A. History of the Filipino People. GAROTECH Publishing, 1990 (8th Edition).

Constantino, Renato. The Philippines: A Past Revisited. Tala Publishing Series, 1975.

Zaide, Gregorio F. Great Filipinos in History: An Epic of Filipino Greatness in War and Peace. Verde Bookstore, 1970.

Zaide, Gregorio. Dagohoy: Champion of Philippine Freedom. Manila: Enriquez, Alduan and Co., 1941.

Rethinking the Concept of Sovereignty

2009-05-04T01:42:00.000-07:00

by Alan S. Cajes

Note: This article was written sometime in 2001 as a reflection of Edsa Dos and Edsa Tres. The picture is from http://images.google.com.ph/

"Consent of the governed" is a well-known political phrase that is attributed to John Locke. It serves as the bedrock of the country's republican and democratic political system. In 1986, the message of the phrase found its way into the Philippine Constitution -- the document that encarnates our will as a people, as well as the terms and conditions of our social contract. It declares that sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them. Put differently, the governed are sovereign and government authority is derived from their consent. When that consent is withdrawn, government authority is revoked and the governed can either govern themselves directly or choose another governor to steer themselves.

Sovereignty, therefore, is the principal function of the governed -- a function that can be delegated to the agents. For Rousseau, sovereignty is nothing less than the exercise of the general will.

Since we -the governed- are preoccupied with other demands of life like earning a living and raising a family, we choose from among ourselves those who will exercise government authority on our behalf, namely, the lawmakers, executives, and justices. In this arrangement, the agents enact, implement, and interpret laws in our behalf as the principals. Because there are three agents of the people, each performing a specific task, these agents are sovereign in their respective official acts. The lawmakers are sovereign when they pass or enact laws. The executives are sovereign when they implement the laws. The justices are sovereign when they interpret laws or settle competing legal claims. The three agents of sovereignty lead, respectively, the three co-equal branches of government, namely, the legislature, the executive department, and the judiciary.

The Philippine Constitution, however, provides occasions when we can directly exercise government authority, i.e., direct or unmediated democracy. One occasion is voting during elections. At the moment of writing the names of those who we think will best represent our will, we - the people - are sovereign. Another occasion is when we directly propose or enact laws or approve or reject any act or law through the system of initiative and referendum, which are politically attractive but seemingly impractical possibilities.

The political turmoil that hit the country from the second half of 2000 to the first half of 2001 tested not only our political assumption, which is more and more representative democracy, and less and less direct democracy. It also induced opposing claims to sovereignty. Congress impressed to us that it was sovereign in pursuing the impeachment trial of Mr. Estrada. Mr. Estrada, when he was still exercising the powers of the presidency, insisted that the governed wanted him to fulfill his contract until 2004. Those who took part in "Edsa Dos" claimed that they represent the will of the people. Such claim was dramatized in slogans like: Ang hatol ng bayan? Guilty si Erap! While those who participated in "Edsa Tres" proclaimed that they were the sovereign Filipino people.

Now, the question is: Who represented the will of the people? Congress? Mr. Estrada? The latest two Edsa's?

Philippine politics, to borrow a phrase from Norton E. Long, has been largely conducted by agents rather than principals. Corollary to this practice, Long argues that the will of the people is always expressed by some of the people. And as such, it is a process rather than a substance.

What Long is saying is that it is difficult to determine the will of the people if we consider the people's will as a substance, i.e., something that we can directly experience through our senses. We cannot possibly see, touch, smell, hear or feel through our skin the people's will directly. We can only perceive the people's will through signs or symbols that are results of procedures. For instance, the act of voting is an expression of the voters' will. To determine the will of the voters, we count the ballots, tally them, and based on generally accepted rules, such as the rule of simple majority or plurality, we declare the winner of an election. Here, the will of the people is expressed in signs or symbols, such as names of candidates voted upon, the number of votes of each candidate, the ballot on which the names of voted persons are written, the ballot box, certificate of canvass, etc. The people's will is expressed in signs or symbols as a result of a process, i.e., a series of activities identified and logically or sequentially arranged to come up with the desired outcome.

In science, the observance of procedures under a particular methodology is critical in determining the truth and validity of a result or outcome. Results of experiments in the natural and social sciences are accepted based on the validity of the method employed and the procedures followed. Thus, authority in science hinges, to a large extent, on methods and procedures.

In politics, Long claims that citizens and organized groups show a sign of maturity when they recognize their proneness to folly and adopt procedures to guard against it. Hence, he says, an important factor in sustaining a rational political administration is the promotion of a disciplined public opinion -- one that is trained to observe tested procedures and produce evidence and reasoned alternatives.

The idea of strict adherence to procedures is not foreign to Filipinos. The 1987 Constitution provides that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law, nor shall any person be denied the equal protection of the laws.

In response to the question, it is Congress or the Senate acting as an impeachment tribunal, which was most likely to express the people's will since it has a process that has been tested at least somewhere else in the world. But there is sufficient reason to concede that the governed elected the Senators to perform certain mandated functions. This goes without saying, however, that elections in this country have always been absolutely clean and fair.

The former Chief Executive had the right and duty to stay in office and complete his term. And by so doing, he is merely following the people's will, which was expressed through their ballots in 1998. This right and duty, however, is not absolute because it is obviously subject to certain procedures provided by the Constitution. That is why Mr. Estrada could have been dismissed from office if he was found guilty by the impeachment tribunal. And since resignation is not prohibited by the Constitution, he could also have vacated his office voluntarily. Indeed, the Supreme Court cognized this avenue and declared the Office of the President vacant. Later on, Chief Justice Davide swore in Ms. Macapagal-Arroyo as President.

Which brings us now to the remaining issue whether some of the people, those in the pro- and anti-Estrada camps, express the will of the people.

The insistence that we observe tested procedures to determine the will of the people does not in any way suggest that free and effective criticism is not considered as a tested procedure. The parliament of the street and other forms of expressions of beliefs and opinions by some of the people are already regular features in the Philippines and elsewhere. The people power at EDSA in 1986 is a sufficient proof that free and effective criticism works.

The problem with this procedure is its tendency to fan heat than shed light, especially when opposing camps mobilize, in one way or another, a more or less equal number of people to their cause. Under this condition, which is quite similar to what we experienced in the streets and other public places, this procedure may fail to achieve its desired end. And prolonging such a process could harm the country in the long run. A prolonged political impasse compounded by massive displays of political strength from both sides, is a feast we cannot afford.

Rousseau points out that the general will is always right and tends to the public advantage. But he also cautions that the deliberations of the people are not always equally correct. When a tested procedure used to determine the people's will ceases to function properly, people, rather some of them, fail to communicate. The result is a hollow politics because the essence of politics is debate, which requires that there must be something to debate about. It does not come as a surprise, therefore, if pro- and anti-Estrada supporters simply hurl invectives at each other or display force through sheer number because of a failure to argue and communicate.

There is a consensus among political scientists that constitutions give form to politics. Thus, a government without a constitution would lack the specific kind of moral limitation that distinguishes politics. Our Constitution mandates a procedure to solve a problem like Mr. Estrada. We owe it to ourselves as citizens of this country to resolve our conflict through free discussion and free acceptance of the outcome of our agreed upon constitutional procedure. Along the way, as former Senate President Jovito R. Salonga says, we can disagree without being disagreeable and argue without being difficult.

In the final analysis, it is only through enlightened vigilance, intelligent debates, and proper scrutiny of issues through tested procedures that we can mature politically as a nation.