Freshly-minted Senate President Chiz Escudero is taking flak not only from his peers due to the snap power grab at the Senate.

Environmental groups are also up in arms over his recent call to lift the coal moratorium, as he claimed renewable energy is more expensive than coal. 

The Department of Energy (DoE) during the previous administration halted new coal projects but allowed the expansion and rehabilitation of existing projects.

DoE issued the directive in line with the country’s commitment with international conventions to reduce green house gases.

The ecology groups presented industry figures showing generation charges from coal cost as much as P9 to P28 per kilowatthour, while renewable energy cost as low as P3 to P5, disproving his claim that coal only costs P2 to P4 while renewable energy costs P6 to P10 per kilowatthour. 

An industry report on power outages also showed that coal-fired power plants break down far more than any other power source. 

Each outage drives up the cost of electricity for consumers as distribution utilities seek electricity from the spot market to make up for the deficit. In cost, reliability, and environmental effect, there is no reason to lift the moratorium, according to the groups to dispute Escudero’s claim.

“We do not know where the Senate President found his figures, but we are certain his staff can use Google and find the truth. There he will find the science is clear: affordable and reliable electricity does not come from coal,” according to the groups.               Chito Lozada

Bourse’s white knight 

The goal of bringing down the stock market to the mass market is gaining ground due to the use of electronic wallets. 

Philippine Stock Exchange Inc. data showed a rise in the number of Filipinos making capital market investments primarily due to the GStocks PH platform, which is a feature in GCash.

Based on the PSE’s annual Stock Market Investor Profile report, there were 1.906 million stock market accounts as of the end of 2023, higher by 11.3 percent or 193,285 accounts from 1.712 million in 2022.

Online accounts took up 80 percent of all stock market accounts. By the end of 2023, there were 1,525,768 online accounts, representing a 21.2 percent or 266,861 account increase compared to the previous year.

“Giving e-wallet holders direct access to the stock market is instrumental in our drive to increase retail investor participation in the market,” PSE president and CEO Ramon S. Monzon said.

PSE thus has partnered with the Department of Migrant Workers to conduct learning sessions on financial literacy and stock investing for overseas Filipino workers and their families.

The average value per online trade rose slightly by 1.8 percent to P47,050.48 compared to the 2022 average of P46,236.40. 

Meanwhile, the 2023 average value per trade for the total market transactions was P85,385.54, a substantial increase of 9.6 percent from the 2022 average of P77,926.41.                Maria Romero

City hall tiangge

Officials of a big city have a penchant of using their legislative power for big league income generation.

If you are, for example, planning to operate a gas station but was turned down by city officials, you can just approach your friend from the city council to work it out for you.

Same to those who wanted a high-rise building, say a six-story subdivision and failed a zoning requirement, your honorable lady or gentleman local official will be more than accommodative.

For a fee that goes from P400,000 to P700,000 based on the kind of property or business proposal, a council resolution can be issued for what is termed as a “special use permit” which is the local government’s version of an ease of doing business license.

No wonder, seeing the deliberations at the council session is similar to watching a fashion show, with the designer clothes and accessories on display.     Jing Villamente