Power crisis in the offing?

IT TOOK some time, but the Supreme Court has finally decided a case that will serve as the legal checklist for oil sourcing in the West Philippine Sea.

In its decision announced last week, the high Court, speaking through Associate Justice Samuel Gaerlan, declared as unconstitutional an agreement signed in 2005 that allowed China and Vietnam to conduct a joint exploration for oil with the Philippines in the West Philippine Sea.

Involved were corporations that were fully owned by foreigners. This violated the Constitution which reserves the exploitation of Philippine natural resources exclusively to Filipinos.

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Although termed as a “pre-exploration activity,” the Supreme Court said that the true intent and aim of the agreement is to discover petroleum which is tantamount to exploration.

This has repercussions in the present because the current administration has been reported to be entertaining plans to engage anew with China for a new exploration deal in the West Philippine Sea.

As stated, exploration of natural resources is reserved for Filipinos or corporations that are at least 60% owned by Filipinos.

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Pursuing joint explorations with China will inevitably face constitutional challenges that will bank on the precedent laid down by Supreme Court decision on the China-Vietnam-Philippines tripartite agreement.

Only two of fifteen justices dissented from that decision. A reversal on motion for reconsideration by the respondents in that case, which includes former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, is highly unlikely at this point.

The administration’s legal team now has a narrower elbow room by which to navigate its response to a looming energy crisis confronting the nation.

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The Malampaya gas field reportedly provides fuel to powerplants that supply approximately one-fifth of the country’s power requirements. The unfortunate forecast is that this will run out as early as next year or perhaps in 2027 – or well within the tenure of the current government.

Other sources will have to be tapped, otherwise the country is faced with an energy crisis that will impact most profoundly on the economy. Malampaya has so far benefited the country by reducing oil imports and ensuring a steady supply of natural gas to power the Luzon electricity grid.

It appears that the Duterte administration had failed to come up with a workable energy plan to fill the void to be left by the diminution of the Malampaya gas resources.

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In November last year retired Justice Antonio Carpio urged President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. to provide security for the drilling operations of Forum Energy Limited in Recto Bank (international name: Reed Bank). The Bank is located northwest of Palawan.

The Philippine Navy has reported intermittent surveillance by Chinese vessels near the Bank. The 2016 arbitral ruling declared Recto Bank to be part of the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone over which it exercises exclusive sovereign rights.

To recall, former President Rodrigo Duterte had also turgidly refused to acknowledge the benefits of the arbitral award.

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While government may turn to renewable sources of energy to fill the gaps in the power supply, it also needs to increase security presence in the Philippine exclusive economic zone for service contractors to be able to continue with their survey and drilling operations.

Let political will manifest. Now is the time to assert Philippine sovereign rights in the area./PN