Not just coffeeshop talks

In a whirlwind of official activities last Friday, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (PBBM) flew from ground all the way to the sea and back. PBBM first flew off the coast of Zambales in West Philippine Sea. From there, he flew next to Clark in Angeles City Pampanga, and ending up north in his home province in Ilocos Norte.

As I gathered, PBBM does an average of nine official activities per day in and out of his office at Malacañang Palace.

Donned in green military jacket and black bull cap as the Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), PBBM attended first the Philippine Navy demonstration of its latest ship defense equipment and firepower held in the waters of San Antonio, Zambales. The presidential chopper brought PBBM on board BRP Davao del Sur helipad landing platform to underscore the needs of a well-equipped military in responding to emergencies and security threats in our country.

Still wearing his military jacket, PBBM flew next to nearby Clark in Angeles City, Pampanga where he addressed provincial governors holding there the 4th General Assembly of the League of Provinces of the Philippines. From Clark, the Chief Executive flew all the way up to Ilocos Norte where he literally capped his whirlwind activities at the latest wind farm in his home province.

He led the switch-on ceremony of the additional 80 megawatts (MW) from the first phase of ACEN Corp.’s wind farm in Pagudpud. Although he was at the most windy part of Ilocos, PBBM kept wiping sweat from his face and neck.

Accompanied by eldest son, House Deputy Majority Leader Ilocos Norte Rep. Sandro Marcos, PBBM took pride in having pioneered the wind-powered renewable energy source while he was still governor of the province in 1998.

The Pagudpud wind farm has transmission lines connecting to the North Luzon Renewables’ existing transmission line in Bangui where PBBM put up the country’s first wind farm.

The P11.8-billion Pagudpud wind farm is ACEN’s third wind development in Ilocos Norte, along with the 52-MW North Wind Power project in Bangui and the 81-MW North Luzon Renewables project also in Pagudpud. The full 160-MW is eyed to be finished not later than December 2025 for delivery under the Green Energy Auction Program of the Department of Energy. According to ACEN, the wind farm can electrify 123,875 homes and avoid approximately 344,600 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually.

Joined at the site by business tycoons Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala (JAZA) and his brother Fernando, PBBM welcomed the investments poured into wind energy source by the Ayala Corp. After all, PBBM pointed out, Ilocos Norte has been identified as the best location for wind farms. ACEN has 90 percent of wind farms in Ilocos Norte where there is confirmed high potential for additional onshore and offshore wind farms.

ACEN decided to open the first phase of their wind farm at 80-MW capacity to immediately address the need to add power to the Luzon grid amid a tight energy supply in the Philippines. In response, PBBM stressed the problem is not supply but transmission of electricity, in obvious reference to the current issues gripping the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP). During his talks with reporters at the end of this event, PBBM clarified that lawmakers are the ones currently reviewing the congressional franchise due to questions of NGCP “performance” and security concerns. For now, all factors are under study amid calls for the government to regain control of this vital power system.

Highlighting his concern on the impact of climate change, PBBM echoed his calls to all other business leaders and investors on the demands for “sustainable development” using environment-friendly renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power. At the same time, PBBM sought to allay fears on the proposed use of nuclear power for electricity.

During his official visit to Washington D.C. earlier this month, PBBM met with officials of Ultra Safe Nuclear Corp. (USNC), a vertical integrator of nuclear technologies and services in the United States. In that meeting, President Marcos told the USNC that he is open to adopting “cutting-edge” micro nuclear fuel technology to address intermittent power interruptions in the Philippines that have caused blackouts in Mindoro and Negros islands.

JAZA was among the top honchos of the biggest conglomerates in the Philippines who were part of PBBM’s private sector businessmen delegation in the Washington trip. They also included, namely, Sabin Aboitiz of the Aboitiz Group; Ramon Ang of San Miguel Corp.; Enrique “Ricky” Razon of International Container Terminal Services Inc.; Lance Gokongwei of the Gokongwei Group; Kevin Tan of the Alliance Global Inc.; and, Tessie Sy-Coson of the ShoeMart Group. Except Razon and Ang, most of them are the younger faces and the next generation of the former taipans and tycoons who joined the past state visits and official trips abroad of former Presidents.

They are also part of Malacañang’s Private Sector Advisory Council (PASC) that PBBM regularly consults and convenes at Malacañang Palace. The PASC is headed by Aboitiz whose conglomerate is also into RE and power generation. Aboitiz is the vice chairman for the Sustainable Growth Working Group of the 2023 Asia-Pacific Economic Council-Business Advisory Council (ABAC) that would be convened in Cebu this coming July.

As created by PBBM, the PASC is composed of personalities from the private sector to harmonize the concerns of business owners and farmers. Concurrently as Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, PBBM has tasked the Council to create programs with the cooperation of the private sector to help create new jobs and to generate better income, most especially to the country’s farmers.

A little birdie chirped that PBBM sits down for almost two hours like clockwork with these top corporate executives. Meeting them at Malacañang every other Thursdays, or twice a month, he cuts down any coffeeshop talks.