A member of Congress has urged the Department of Energy (DOE) to reactivate the oil and gas exploration ventures in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) which were temporarily suspended in 2015 due to the country’s territorial dispute with the People’s Republic of China. “It is in the national interest that we renew forthwith the quest for new deep-water natural gas deposits because Malampaya, which supplies some 40 percent of Luzon’s power demand, might be depleted within the next decade,” Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel said Sunday. The DOE put on hold three offshore oil and gas explorations in northwestern Palawan last year out of respect for the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague that was when then hearing the maritime case filed by the Philippine government against China.

Quismorio, E. A. (2016, November 21). Resumption of West PH Sea oil, gas explorations pushed. Manila Bulletin, p. 3.