Quote:The President called the new legislation, ‘ The first and most comprehensive renewable energy law in Southeast Asia’, and one that will enable the Philippines to capture a part of the soaring investments in renewable energy development worldwide pegged at $71bn last year.

‘With our Renewable Energy Act, we can now move aggressively to develop these resources,’ the President said referring to solar, biomass, geothermal, hydropower, wind and ocean energy technologies.

According to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the new law provides the legal and institutional framework necessary for harmonising policies on the swift development of renewable energy technologies.

‘From 45 percent before our administration, we became 57 percent self-sufficient in energy in 2007, as we aim now to reach 60 percent by 2010, thanks in part to legislation and in part to the development of our renewable energy resources,’ she said.

The President also said that the new revenue measures helped tide off the impact of the global economic slowdown on the Philippines but also her focus on building up new industries such as the biofuels industry, and now, the renewable energy industry.