In discussion with the Private Sector Advisory Council , President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has tackled issues in the processing of permits for energy projects which have always been the biggest headache for investors, especially foreign firms that are not familiar with the socio-political terrain in the country.
For project permitting with the LGUs, it is worth noting that many, if not all, investors are incessantly complaining of the scale of bribery happening within that level of government bureaucracy – and that has been the major factor scaring off investors on energy projects; because the ‘unreceipted portion’ of the pay-off would be often higher than those provided with official receipts.
Even with the energy virtual one stop shop already being enforced, the investors specified that the other components of permitting just don’t work as they are intended to be, hence, that remains an element turning off investors. The ERC indicated that it wants to “protect consumers from unwarranted increase in electricity prices,” but industry players tipped off that the direction targeted by the regulator is to impose higher-priced secondary cap for traded capacities in the Wholesale Electricity Spot s a, hence, that is a reverse of what is targeted as rate reduction for consumers.