Marcos signs into law measure promoting natural gas industry

 MANILA, Philippines — To help attain energy security, President Marcos has signed into law a measure that seeks to encourage the exploration and use of indigenous natural gas resources in the country.

Republic Act 12120 or the Philippine Natural Gas Industry Development Act seeks to promote natural gas as “a safe, efficient, and cost-effective source of energy and an indispensable contributor to energy security.”

Marcos signed the law on Jan. 8.  A copy of the measure was published in the Official Gazette on Tuesday.

The law establishes the Philippine Downstream Natural Gas Industry or PDNGI and creates a legal and regulatory framework that will govern it.

RA 12120 also “promote(s) the entry of investors under a system of competition, transparency and fair trade, and by providing responsive policy support.”

Under the law, all PDNGI facilities, as certified by the Department of Energy, shall undergo an evaluation process for possible inclusion in and entitlement to incentives under the Strategic Investment Priority Plan, subject to the incentives provided under the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997, as amended by RA 11534 or the Corporate
Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act.

The purchase and sale of indigenous natural gas, aggregated gas, and power generated by generation facilities using indigenous natural gas and aggregated gas shall be exempt from value-added tax, it said.

The law aims to promote natural gas as an energy fuel, with the potential to meet the increasing local demand for fuel, and  develop the Philippines as a liquefied natural gas trading and transshipment hub within Asia-Pacific.

The Philippine Natural Gas Industry Development Act is one of the priority measures of the Marcos administration.

The Philippines has committed to reduce carbon emissions and promote renewable energy to combat climate change.

The country targets to increase to 35 percent the share of renewable energy in the power mix by 2030.