MANILA, Philippines – The House of Representatives will approve President Aquino’s request for emergency powers on the electricity crisis next month.
“We will approve it when we resume session on the third week of October. We will have to, because if we postpone approval to November or December, it will be too late to bring in additional power,” Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II told a news conference.
He said Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla has informed the House that it would take five to six months to transport modular power plants from abroad and to install and test them here in time for the start of the projected shortage in March next year.
Gonzales said the joint House-Senate resolution containing the “emergency powers” or special authority, as Malacañang calls it, would be filed on Friday before Congress goes on a three-week break.
“The energy committee chaired by Congressman Rey Umali (of Mindoro Oriental) will conduct hearings during the recess so that it will be ready with the final draft of the resolution when the House reconvenes on Oct. 20,” he said.
Gonzales said the chamber would approve the proposed P2.606-trillion 2015 national budget upon the resumption of session.
“After that, we can pass the joint resolution on emergency powers or special authority for the President,” he added.
The Senate, on the other hand, called on Malacañang to immediately submit a draft of the joint resolution it is asking Congress to pass to pave the way for the grant of emergency powers to the President.
Senate President Franklin Drilon pointed out the Senate has not been given a copy of the draft joint resolution by Malacañang and until such time that it does, it cannot do anything about the request of the President.
Senate committee on energy chairman Sergio Osmeña III said he intends to hold a hearing on the joint resolution on Thursday but if the draft is not with the Senate by that time, there is nothing he could do.
Osmeña said the Senate should ask the House if it has a copy of the draft joint resolution so that they could transmit this to the committee for its perusal.
“If it is sent to us, we will receive it, we will look at it and if it’s in order, we will file it,” Drilon said in response to Osmeña’s query.
“We informed (Executive) Secretary (Paquito) Ochoa of the situation and we expressly told (him) that in the absence of even of a simple draft of a joint resolution, we could not possibly enact the measure by the end of September as they requested and they realized that there is simply no way we could pass anything by the end of the month as we have not seen the parameters of the powers they have requested,” he added.
Sen. Francis Escudero, who raised the issue of the joint resolution during yesterday’s plenary session, also urged Malacañang to act on the matter soon. – With Marvin Sy