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Philippines
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Poe calls out govt on energy expenses

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AFTER President Benigno Aquino III asked for global solidarity on climate change issues in Paris, independent presidential candidate and Senator Grace Poe hit the Aquino administration for failure to heed its own call in saving energy and conserving water.

“The greatest push for climate change mitigation and adaptation should begin with the government. It’s the basic principle of practicing what you preach,” Poe said after Aquino said during the Climate Vulnerable Forum in Paris that debates should now focus on the contributions of individual countries rather than which countries should be doing what.

Climate vulnerable. President Benigno Aquino III speaks before a high-level event of the Climate Vulnerable Forum in Paris where he outlined the Philippine position on the Framework Convention on Climate Change. MALACAñANG PHOTO

Citing annual financial reports by the Commission on Audit, Poe pointed out that since 2011, the government’s utilities spending has increased by an average of P1 billion every year for its national agencies alone. About 80 percent of this goes to paying power bills.

For 2016, the proposed allocation for utilities expenses is P14.13 billion.

“This is a billion more than the P12.9 billion allocated in 2015 for electricity and water bills, which means national government offices are spending more than P1 billion a month for utilities alone,” she said.

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“We often hear the government asking the public to be judicious in their energy and water consumption, but it seems the government is not doing its part,” said Poe, citing the need for government agencies to adhere to measures that aim to reduce the country’s carbon footprint.

She said the water and electricity expenses of national government agencies reached P12.30 billion in 2014, P11.64 billion in 2013, P10.48 billion in 2012, and P9.26 billion in 2011.

There are times when the actual expenditure exceeded the projected budget. In 2012, for example, the budget allocation was only P9.2 billion but the government spent almost P2 billion more.

“How can we ask the public to find ways to contribute to a better planet when the government itself does not employ measures to cut its huge electricity and water consumption?” she asked.

She called on the government to implement the mechanisms of the Renewable Energy Act of 2008, which encourages the “development and utilization of renewable energy sources as tools to effectively prevent or reduce harmful emissions” while balancing the goals of economic growth and protecting the environment.

The senator also asked the government to study the possibility of installing solar panels in government buildings, which would be cheaper and more sustainable in the long term.

Poe pointed out that the Climate Change Conference is all about making pledges that add up to sufficient global action. The Philippine government, she said, must also pledge to do its part and not just ask different sectors to contribute and make sacrifices.

The conference, which is being held held from Nov. 30 to Dec. 11 in Paris, will be attended by 196 countries, including the Philippines. Countries will be asked to come forward with their own ambitions and plans for carbon reduction, which will be the basis of a global agreement on climate change.

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