The chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy shared an upbeat outlook for the country’s back-up power supply to avert widespread brownouts when major supplier Malampaya gas field dries up. “We already have a contingency measure because construction of importation terminals are underway even if Malampaya is gone,” Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said, adding this means the private sector can start importing natural gas, until potential power sources in the West Philippine Sea are put on line. Gatchalian assured the public that “in short, we won’t have brownouts,” while also driving home the importance of the West Philippine Sea. He noted that, “looking at its potential volume of oil and gas there, when it comes to oil, these will supply our economy for almost 17 years based on the Department of Energy [DOE] data.”

Fernandez, B. (2021, May 14). Energy fallback, WPS potential OK-Win. Business Mirror, pp. A1, A2.