RA 9136 Otherwise known as An Act Ordaining Reforms in the Electric Power Industry, amensing for the purpose certain Laws and for other Purposes was passed by the house of representative and the senate on May 31, 2001 and June 4, 2001 which is 19 years ago. This Act proves to help the Filipino's just like any other Act that is signed, it is all for the betterment and stability of our country. Then again, most people don't really know about this act other than those who have and are currently studying Law. Even in my case I didn't know this act until presented by our instructor because this act is an essential Law which is aligned by my course Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering.
Upon reading I've discovered that it is quite long and it is divided by different sections and chapters. There are 4 sections on the Chapter 1, the first section is the Short Title. I think it is important to include this part to help people to know what this act is called. The next section which is called Declaration of policy is then divided into 11 parts (a-k). This section is important, actually all parts of this act is important but then this part helped me to understand what this act is all about, their purpose and goal. This act is to (a) To ensure and accelerate the total electrification of the country; (b) To ensure the quality, reliability, security and affordability of the supply of electric power; (c) To ensure transparent and reasonable prices of electricity in a regime of free and fair competition and full public accountability to achieve
greater operational and economic efficiency and enhance the competitiveness of Philippine products in the global market; (d) To enhance the inflow of private capital and broaden the ownership base of the power generation, transmission and distribution sectors; (e) To ensure fair and non-discriminatory treatment of public and private sector entities in the process of restructuring the electric power industry; (f) To protect the public interest as it is affected by the rates and services of electric utilities and other providers of electric power; (g) To assure socially and environmentally compatible energy sources and infrastructure; (h) To promote the utilization of indigenous and new and renewable energy resources in power generation in order to reduce dependence on imported energy; (i) To provide for an orderly and transparent privatization of the assets and liabilities of the National Power Corporation (NPC); (j) To establish a strong and purely independent regulatory body and system to ensure consumer protection and enhance the competitive operation of the electricity market; and (k) To encourage the efficient use of energy and other modalities of demand side management. I am currently reading the Article while typing this so I can't really tell that this is the section that has a big impact. Section 3 Scope, by the name itself this is to identify the limits of this act. The last section, which is the Section 4 Definition of terms. This part will help to understand the terms you're not familiar with. This will help us to understand this Act as a whole in this part. Without the definition of terms it would be a whole lot harder to comprehend what the Act is stating.
On to the next Chapter which is titled ORGANIZATION AND OPERATION OF THE ELECTRIC POWER INDUSTRY. This Chapter is rather lengthy than the first Chapter with 32 sections over all. The Section 5 which is the First section in this chapter is Called Organization This section tells us that the electric power industry shall be divided into four sectors, which are: generation, transmission, distribution and supply. This information are pretty well explained in schools especially in Electrical Engineering since it is the industry that the students shall be into upon graduating the degree and getting the license. Also this information stirs students' interests just like me who likes to imagine things as what could be my life years later when I can finally call myself a licensed Electrical engineer. The section 6 ( Generation Sector) then described the first sector and its role to this article as the Section 7 (Transmission Sector). The section 6 and 7 is useful for readers out there to understand the sectors, their role and standards. It's important to make other people understand what the Law is all about so they will have a better idea as to what it is about. The section 8 is all about the Creation of the National Transmission Company, this section which states the history of the NTC and what its role and Section 9 which is somewhat related to Section 8 which states the functions and and responsibilities of the NTC/TRANSCO. One of the responsibilities states is to Provide open and non-discriminatory access to its transmission system to all electricity users; this is actually an important responsibility at this time where greed and power is everywhere we need to stop discrimination to electricity users since this is an important access which everyone needs. All the other functions and responsibilities stated are as important as the one I stated above, it's just that it stood out for me. Now, on to Section 10 which is the Corporate Powers of the TRANSCO. This section will help people to realize if the TRANSCO have gone overboard to their powers, this part will also prove as a limitation to what they can or can't do. This will help not just the People but TRANSCO itself to avoid stepping on the Laws which is right and Just. Section 11 TRANSCO Board of
Directors. The TRANSCO who have a huge role to this Act needs people who will guide and handle the people, this section where they stated the qualifications for this role is perfect, you can't just appoint someone for this important position you must also undergo the requirements and qualifications to ensure that this organization is well handled by the chosen board. The sections 12-15 is all about the Board duties, meetings, and allowances. The Section 12 is titled Power Duties of the board which is important to understand what being part of the board is really all about, it's not just all about the position it's how good and efficient you are to the task given. This section is divided into 7 parts (a-g). All which is the duties that the board must meet. Just like what I've said in Section 11 it is important to pass the requirements and qualifications in order to meet these duties. The Section 13 (Board Meetings) is somewhat related to the duties of the board (Section 12), like any organization present up to this date meetings shall be held as often as possible. This is to solve any problems or to come up with any ideas for the growth and improvement of the Organization. At this part, I've realized the huge role which the board must meet so it is only natural to include the diems and allowances they need which Section 14 tackled. Section 15 - Quorum this section talked about how to come up with a solution for divided ideas. 4 Board members shall act as quorum and the majority vote of the Quorum will act as the approval for any decision. In section 16 which tackled the Powers of the President of TRANSCO have the same impact as the duties of the Board, the president itself must comply with all of its duties within the limitations of his powers as a President of TRANSCO he/she must be reliable enough to know the said duties and limitations. On Section 17-19 they mainly talked about money. The Salary and benefits, profits and Transmission Charges which is addressed thoroughly in Section
43. The Chapter 2 has a total of 32 sections, all of which are about the Organizations under the 4 sectors namely: generation, transmission, distribution and supply. We are introduced to TRANSCO which is broken down to several sections that talked about its duties, limitations, the boards, allowances, charges and many more. This chapter actually gave us several information about the organizations of electrical sources, its importance and everything we need to know about them. It is not enough to explain the sectors alone, what made this Chapter lengthy is that every organization and sector are well laid out for everyone to know. In section 22-28 the Distribution Sector is discussed and explained perfectly. Starting in Section 29 -36 then is the Supply Sector. Overall, I learned a whole lot more about the sectors that were taught to us during school. All I know is that there are several sectors in the Electrical industry but because of this act I've realized that there is so much to know about other than the lessons taught to us inside a 4 cornered room.
Moreover, in Chapter 3 which is all about "ROLE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY'' it only has a single section unlike the first two Chapters that I've encountered. Section 37 is titled Powers and Functions of the DOE and is then divided to 17 parts (a-q). The Department of Energy itself has already functions and responsibilities which is the goal to their organizations ``The Department of Energy (DOE) is responsible for the formulation and implementation of all plans, programs, projects, and activities of the government related to energy exploration, development, utilization, distribution, and conservation" but aside from all of those duties there are also functions stated in this section for restructuring the electricity industry.
One of its many functions that is stated on this section that has caught my attention is the (d) Ensure the reliability, quality and security of supply of electric power. Yes, all of the functions and powers listed on this section have huge roles but for me, as a student the 4th function is something that I easily understood. DOE is a huge organization and has a huge part for the Electricity here in the Philippines. To ensure the reliability, quality and security is all too familiar with me as an Electrical Engineering student. It is only natural for the DOE to have this responsibility considering what their organization is all about, during this time where there are lots of exploitation, discrimination and theft of electricity we all need to know that we have the Department of Energy backing us up to these kind of things. Even so, the DOE can only do such things stated in the section mentioned. They don't own everything so it's important to remind ourselves that even the DOE itself have restrictions to their power. This power that I have been talking about is not just for their own good but to ensure that they will accomplish the objectives of this Act.
Let's move on to the next Chapter which is the Chapter 4 REGULATION OF THE ELECTRIC POWER INDUSTRY. This Chapter is composed of 9 sections: Section 38. Creation of the Energy Regulatory Commission; Section 39. Compensation and Other Emoluments for ERC Personnel; Section 40. Enhancement of Technical Competence; Section. 41. Promotion of Consumer Interests; Section 42. Budget of the ERC; Section 43. Functions of the ERC; Section 44. Transfer of Powers and Functions; Section 45. Cross Ownership, Market Power Abuse and Anti-Competitive Behavior; Section 46. Fines and Penalties. This Chapter is all about the rules maintained by the Authorities. A few parts of this chapter that is quite interesting to me is Section 41, this is the part where it says that the Energy
Regulatory Commission must handle all of the consumers complaints and concerns. Having an organization where you can voice out your problem is critical for us consumers. When you have problems and you don't have anyone to turn to is quite frustrating, this kind of scenario will only cause a bigger problem than what it was before. So having ERC help us out with our concerns is just as important to Malls and establishments having customer service. Not only will it help the organization to improve since the concerns will raise awareness to the company, it will also solve the consumers' query. This Chapter is also lengthy but not like the first two chapters, this is also a well explained chapter where you will know a lot of things other than what is taught to you. Everything is detailed even up to the fines and transfer of powers. I think the ERC is highlighted in this part, what their position is all about and what duties they need to meet in order to keep the consumers satisfied. Overall, I learned a bunch of things again in this Chapter. It feels like the information and knowledge that I'm acquiring are stacking up one after another like jenga blocks.
At this point, we already have a lot of things going on like thinking about how many chapters we have to finish to fully understand this article. And so we are already on the 5th Chapter which is titled Privatization of the assets of the National Power Corporation. Just from reading the title, we can have a head start of what this chapter is really about. Since the National Power Corporation is owned by the Government, this act shall move the ownership of the NPC into private companies, in other words, the government is going to sell its assets to private sectors. This chapter contains only two sections, section 47 and section 48. Section 47 is called the NPC Privatization. It says that except for the assets of SPUG, all assets shall be sold or privatized, as well as the IPP contracts of the National Power Corporation. Also, the participation of the Filipino citizens and corporations in the purchase of the NPC and its assets shall be encouraged. Next is Section 48, called the National Power Board of directors, things discussed in this section are the body organization of its directors also known as National Power board directors -this organization are the core minds of the private NPC that takes over the past officials.
Another long Chapter which is titled POWER SECTOR ASSETS AND LIABILITIES MANAGEMENT. This chapter consists of several sections, from section 49 to section 55. The first section which is Section 49, Creation of Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation, abbreviated as PSALM Corp. This corporation is government owned and ran by government constituents. Section 50, Purpose and Objective, Domicile and Term this section is quite self explanatory from the title itself though it is quite shocking for me that the PSALM group will exist only for 25 years otherwise provided by the law; Section 51, Powers this section contains the powers of the PSALM Corp listed from letter a to letter m. And Section 52 is called Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation Meetings, Quorum and voting. Written in this section are the corporate business affairs of the PSALM Corp. Next section is section 53 that has title Powers of the President of Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation. The President is the Chief Executive Officer and he/she shall preside Board Meetings. Powers and duties are enumerated from letter A to letter G. After this Section is the Exemption from the Salary Standardization Law, known as Section 54. Salaries of the employees are exempted from Republic Act No. 6758. Then we have section 55. Property of Power Sector Assets and mainly focused on the actual and lab works, studying the laws which is aligned tour course is just as important. If you know what is right and is approved by the law it will help you to become a good Engineer, come of to think of it this course has lot of rules/laws that everyone should abide since Electricity is one of the most important factors tour homes or its only natural that we students must learn al of this before graduating. I've accumulated a vast knowledge about the organizations listed her and I can't wait to apply al of the said information once I became a licensed Electrical Engineer.
good job bro..keep it up