Urgent passage of EPIRA amendments sought

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May 24, 2025 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — An energy consumer group is pressing lawmakers to “urgently pass” proposed amendments to the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA), calling it a crucial step toward lowering power costs.

ILAW Pilipinas has urged lawmakers, particularly newly elected officials, to turn their campaign promises into action and advance EPIRA amendments to “address high electricity costs.”

Aside from rising power costs, it said, communities across the country also continue to suffer from recurring brownouts and unstable energy supply.

These conditions, the group said, have hindered growth in key industries, disrupted vital services and undermined the quality of life for millions of Filipinos.

ILAW Pilipinas likewise called on government officials to “prioritize long-term energy security, not as a crisis-response measure, but as a core component of national development.”

“This means pushing for bold reforms in legislation, infrastructure and market regulation, while ensuring that no region or sector is left behind in the transition toward a cleaner, more equitable energy future,” it said.

Enacted in 2001, EPIRA reforms and liberalizes the country’s power industry by unbundling it into distinct sectors – generation, transmission, distribution and supply – to promote greater competition in the electricity market.

President Marcos ordered Congress last year to revisit the law and make the necessary amendments to policies that are not applicable for the present time.

In particular, one of the major proposed changes is to expand the composition of the Energy Regulatory Commission from five to nine commission members in a bid to resolve delays.

Earlier, ERC chairperson and CEO Monalisa Dimalanta said the EPIRA amendments have a “very slim chance” of being enacted in the 19th Congress.

While significant progress has been made in the House of Representatives, Dimalanta said the proposal still has a steep climb ahead in the upper chamber.

“In the Senate, it has not gone past the committee on energy,” she said.

Currently in recess, Congress is scheduled to reconvene on June 2, with its adjournment set for June 13. This means lawmakers have less than 10 days, excluding weekends and holidays, to debate, review and vote on the proposed measure.

Dimalanta, however, remained hopeful that the measure would secure legislative approval despite time constraints.

“Everyone wants reforms, so I think we are leaning on that desire of our legislators to really push for reforms in the (energy) sector,” she said.