By PR | 02:54 PM December 09, 2023
The Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) has approved the ordinance declaring the Bohol as environment-friendly and clean energy province.
Authored and sponsored by Board Member Jiselle Rae Aumentado Villamor, the ordinance was approved Dec 7 which also prioritizes innovative Renewable Energy (RE) development in the UNESCO Global Geopark island province.
Ordinance no. 005-2023 provides for incentives to new renewable energy projects through exemption from payment of real property taxes for up to five years of operation, commencing on the next calendar year after the issuance of their certificate of registration from the Bohol Investment Board (BIB).
Projects that have applied for incentives will benefit starting on the next calendar year after the issuance of their certificate of registration from the BIB.
With the new ordinance, biomass, geothermal, hydropower, run-of-river hydro, ocean energy for power generation and any combination or for those that utilize emerging RE technologies are qualified to the incentives.
Through the mandate of the promotion, utilization and development of production use of renewable energy (PURE) projects, the Code ensures the perpetual existence of the natural resources through management, protection, conservation, sustainable utilization of forests, mineral, water, coastal and marine resources.
It also prioritizes management on land use, eco-cultural tourism, infrastructure, solid waste and disaster risk reduction, biodiversity conservation, sustainable agriculture, air, water, land, and noise pollution control and climate change adaptation.
The policy obliges the provincial government to promote development, and utilisation of indigenous RE resources through local government-driven, inter-agency, and multi-sectoral natural resources management policies on exploration, development and supply, power generation, transmission, or distribution projects.
“The RE Code of Bohol serves as a vital and indispensable tool to build a clean energy future for our province that totally eradicates, if not mitigate the harmful contents of gas and air pollutants which threaten our economy, security, health, culture, and environmental heritage”, Aumentado said in her sponsorship speech.
She added that the province has the responsibility to “safeguard our environment and secure a sustainable future for our province” to signify the importance of the code.
The RE Code shall be also incorporated as a highlighting component in the Provincial Investment Code to include in the promotion, development, and utilization in Bohol.
A Bohol Renewable Energy Board (BREB) is also established under the ordinance which is vested with the power to review, examine and endorse renewable energy development in the province.
The BREB will be chaired by the governor with the Department of Energy (DOE) and other government agencies as members.
The ordinance underwent a series of technical working group meetings and committee hearings which was approved on second reading after due deliberations and interpolations.
Villamor noted tha the ordinance is beneficial to Boholanos in addressing high electricity rates as RE sources do not use fuel which is expensive and costly.
“It must also be emphasized that the ordinance is not only about electricity and/or power supply. This is an all-encompassing law on clean and green energy,” she pointed out.
This also covers the use of RE sources for technologies used on projects for tourism, agriculture, those that address waste management problems in the local government units, and among others.
“Thus, incentivizing renewable energy investors will have a healthy and sustainable effect to our province,” lawyer Villamor said.
Co-sponsored by BMs Nathaniel Binlod, Greg Jala, Lucille Lagunay, and lawyer Tomas Abapo Jr., the passage of the ordinance is in accordance to the Strategic Change Agenda on environmental sustainability under Gov. Erico Aristotle Aumentado’s administration. (PIMO/JSS)
