CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — A group here called Power for People Coalition (P4P) on Thursday questioned the integrity of Raphael Perpetuo Lotilla, designated Secretary of the Department of Energy (DOE) with his association with independent power distributors in the country.
Lotilla was nominated by no less than President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to head the Energy department, but power players Lotilla’s his association as an independent director of Aboitiz Power Corporation and ACE Enexor potentially affect his credibility to serve as DOE Secretary.
During the term of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Lotilla served as Energy Secretary.
Gerry Arances, convenor of Power 4 People coalition cited a law which requires at least two years of retirement, resignation, or separation from an energy industry office post before being appointed.
“With the final appointment still up in the air, the challenge is clear and pressing for anyone who takes this post: bring down electricity rates in the shortest period of time possible. We are aware of the expertise of Mr. Lotilla, having held the post before. But we are concerned that given his ties to the power sector, he may not be coming in as an honest broker and is instead a Trojan horse for corporate interests,” Arances, emphasized.
The group earlier expressed similar concerns on possible appointees to the DOE post, particularly when the name of Energy Regulatory Commission Chairperson Agnes Devanadera was floated, sparking criticism of her history of anti-consumer stances in the energy sector.
“The next DOE Secretary must be pro-consumer. Once appointed, Lotilla or any other nominee will deal with astronomically high-power rates for consumers due to our reliance on fossil fuels such as coal and gas, especially now that we see the country being transformed into a natural gas hub that locks us with high power rates for decades to come. He can reverse this by picking renewable energy, and we hope he would not be like Cusi who flagrantly flouted Duterte’s policy statements on renewables,” Arances said.
The P4P advocates using renewable energy, which they claimed to democratize the power sector by allowing consumers greater choice in their source of power through microgrids, reduce dependence on imported fossil fuels, and serve as the Philippines’ contribution to the 1.5°C goal of the Paris Agreement on global warming.
“There is no downside to renewable energy in terms of cost, energy security, and climate change. We hope that the next energy secretary will not be like his or her predecessor and finally champion renewables to help bring about a truly sustainable and flexible power sector for the country,” said Arances.
The DOE in a press statement presented Lotilla credentials as follows:
Prior to being appointed as Secretary of Energy, Mr. Raphael P. M. Lotilla was the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM). PSALM is the government corporation tasked to manage the privatization of generation assets, IPP contracts and other non-power assets, including the management of financial obligations and stranded contract costs of the state-owned National Power Corporation (NPC).
Before his appointment as PSALM President, Mr. Lotilla briefly served as PSALM Chief Operating Officer and was previously Deputy Director-General (DDG), with the rank of Undersecretary, of the National Economic Development Authority, from 1996 to January 2004. As DDG, he was designated as National Coordinator of the Philippine Council for Sustainable Development, where he pushed measures supportive of clean technologies and sustainable livelihoods, among other sustainable development advocacies.
Mr. Lotilla was also the supervising official of the secretariat of the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC), the advisory and consultative body to the Philippine President and the Legislature. He actively contributed in formulating the Executive Branch’s position in the deliberations of Congress and the bicameral conference committee meetings. Among the legislative reform measures he was sought to help in crafting was the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001.
The press statement is silent about his involvement in Aboitiz corporation as alleged by the coalition.-Bobby Lagsa/Newsline
