Tackling two biggies

Taking center stage at last week's Kapihan sa Manila Hotel were two topics of immense importance, the "Big One" and the high cost of electricity.

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Among the main reasons why the Philippines continues to lag behind its neighbors in terms of attracting foreign direct investments is the huge power costs. The fact that in the whole of Asia, our country has the third highest electricity rates undoubtedly dampens investors' enthusiasm to set up shop here.

The Philippines charged P11.34 ($0.19) per kilowatt hour (kWh) in the last quarter of 2024, next to Japan which came in second at P11.80 ($0.201) per kWh, with Singapore ranking highest at P14 ($0.239) per kWh, according to GlobalPetrolPrices.com which tracks power rates in over 150 countries.

Dr. Fernando Martin "Nani" Roxas, president and CEO of National Power Corporation told the Kapihan forum the huge electricity rates in the Philippines can be attributed primarily to the cessation of government subsidy when the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) of 2001 took effect.

Unfortunately, Dr. Roxas said, after the 2001 law removed the subsidy, many forms of taxes arose on generation, on transmission, on distribution, and on the retail usage of electricity all contributing to skyrocketing costs.