Last July, after the 19th Congress opened, the new chairperson of the Senate Committee on Energy, Senator Pia Cayetano, was introduced to the Philippines’ energy jewel—the Malampaya offshore gas platform now being operated by the SC 38 Consortium led by tycoon Enrique Razon’s Prime Infrastructure Capital.

Thus started the pursuit of congressional support for the full development of the country’s natural gas resources, which will match the progress achieved by its neighbors to turn nature’s gift into a national asset.

The Southeast Asia region is endowed with abundant natural gas. Indonesia holds 35 percent of the region’s proven gas reserves, Malaysia has 25 percent, while Vietnam takes a 17.9 percent share. Myanmar, Brunei and Thailand’s proven reserves account for 12 percent, 6.2 percent and 4 percent, respectively, based on data from a multilateral body.

As of 2022, largely as a result of government support, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand were Southeast Asia’s top gas producers.

Gas extraction in a single year reached 210 billion cubic meters which was topped by Malaysia (41 percent), Indonesia (29 percent) and Thailand (13 percent).

The International Energy Agency (IEA) reported Southeast Asia’s annual gas production will grow by 50 billion cubic meters from 2030 to 2050.

The Malampaya natural gas reserves provide the promise of catching up to the country’s neighbors and for the country to become another powerhouse in indigenous fuel production.

With the recent extension of the contract for the development of the Malampaya field through Service Contract 38, the consortium is given the opportunity to develop the resource to yield its full benefit.

“When you experience this and you see the kind of investments that go into ensuring energy security and energy reliability, you will be impressed,” Cayetano said after a tour of the natural gas facility.

The head of the energy panel thus was made to realize the urgency of the bill pending at the Senate which could turn indigenous fuel into a game-changer for the Philippine energy sector.

Senate Bill 2247, or the proposed Philippine Downstream Gas Industry Development Act, has historic significance.

It recognizes that the Philippines has natural gas contrary to a former president’s remark that the country is poor because we were not blessed with gas and oil.

The path to full renewable energy use became a policy after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. expressed his desire for the government and the private sector to cooperate in the tapping of natural gas as a transition fuel while renewable energy sources are being developed for widespread use.

The Department of Energy (DoE), after the Marcos directive, endorsed SB 2247 which seeks to make indigenous, or local, natural gas a priority for power generation.

The bill would make it a state policy to buy Filipino gas first, hopefully to unlock investments in the energy sector.

The huge windfall that the government collected in terms of royalties over the years, or P728 billion thus far, and the imports that local production covered from Malampaya proves the benefit of the further development of the resource.

The biggest opportunity from the development of the country’s own natural gas supply is that it will break the shackles of dependence on imports, whatever the fuel type, imposed on Filipinos.