17 January 2008

MIRIAM: UNCHECKED BIOFUELS HARM ENVIRONMENT

Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago, who will chair the new Biofuels Oversight Committee, warned that unregulated biofuel production can result in environmental destruction, pollution, and human health damage.

“The oversight committee has to ensure that standards are set and enforced, on how the fuels are produced. Different biofuels have different levels of eco-friendliness. If we are smart, we should promote only the right biofuels,” she said.

Santiago said that the New York Times on-line of 15 January 2008, reported that the European Union has drafted a law banning importation of some biofuels from crops grown in forests, wetlands, or grasslands.

In the article “ Europe may ban importation of some biofuel crops,” James Kanter said: “But a flurry of studies has discredited some of the claims made by biofuel producers that the fuels have reduced greenhouse gases…Growing the crops and turning them into fuel can result in considerable environmental harm.”

The senator said that the environmental warning was based on published studies of reputable scientific groups, including: Royal Society, the British national science academy; New Energy Finance at London ; Friends of the Earth; Renewable Fuels Association in Washington ; Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Washington; and Europe ’s Energy Commissioner.

Santiago said her oversight committee will require biofuels to deliver a minimum level of greenhouse gas savings, with the minimum level to be determined by scientists, not politicians.

The senator listed the potential dangers of unchecked biofuels farming, as follows:

• Tempts farmers to cut down tropical rainforests;
• Uses tractors which consume diesel;
• Demands nitrogen fertilizer made with natural gas;
• Consumes huge amount of water;
• Encourages farmers to convert grasslands, which need to be preserved, into cornland for ethanol production;
• Encourages conversion of land to biofuel use although they contain high levels of biodiversity.

Santiago said the oversight committee will prioritize the design of a procedural mechanism that will allow government to track biofuel from origin to use, in order to ensure sustainable practices.

In another development on biofuels, Santiago as a constitutional law expert, warned Congress members to comply with the constitutional provision that: “They shall notify the House concerned of a potential conflict of interest that may arise from the filing of a proposed legislation of which they are authors.”

Santiago also warned Congress members to observe another constitutional provision prohibiting them from holding “any financial interest in any special privilege granted by government,” since the Biofuels Act grants fiscal incentives.

The senator said she is questioning whether certain Congress members might be violating the Anti-Graft Law, which makes it unlawful for any Congress member “to acquire or receive any personal pecuniary interest in any specific business enterprise which will be benefited by any law authored by him.”

Santiago , a former RTC judge, said the penalty for unlawful pecuniary interest is imprisonment from 6 to 15 years, and perpetual disqualification from office.

“If the Congress member hides his illegal interest behind a corporate structure or a dummy, then his criminal liability includes the added crimes of fraud, falsification of public document, and violation of the Anti-Dummy Law,” Santiago said.

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16 January 2008

MIRIAM SEEKS JPEPA CONDITIONAL CONCURRENCE

Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago, chair of the Senate foreign relations committee, said she is drafting a resolution of conditional concurrence which she hopes to present to her committee and then to sponsor on the Senate floor when session reopens on January 28.

“The process of Senate concurrence will be twofold, consisting of an exchange of notes between the two governments, and passage by the Senate of a resolution expressing conditional concurrence,” Santiago said.

Santiago said the target date for the entire process is “before March” in order to finish Jpepa before session adjourns on 29 March 2008.

“The exchange of notes will contain the shared understanding of both governments that Jpepa is consistent with their respective constitutions. Specifically, this refers to the Jpepa provisions to accord national treatment and most favored nation (MFN) treatment to, and to refrain from imposing performance requirements, on Jpepa investors,” she said.

Santiago said that constitutional issues in the Philippines are represented by Jpepa provisions on investment in Chapter 8, as well as the Schedule of the Republic of the Philippines in Parts 1 and 2 of Annex 7, giving national treatment and MFN treatment to Japanese investors.

“The Senate concurrence resolution will contain the condition that implementation under Jpepa of national treatment and MFN treatment does not impose any obligation on our country that would be inconsistent with the mandatory provisions of our Constitution,” Santiago said.

Santiago also said that the Senate resolution will also contain the condition that Jpepa will not violate the Philippine Constitution relating to the rights of any person to acquire or dispose of immovable property, public or private.

“The Japanese ambassador has graciously accepted this concept in principle. Our government has explained that the conditions of concurrence serve only to confirm the interpretation of Jpepa, and that the Senate resolution will not modify the obligations of the parties. Thus, there will be no need to return the treaty to the Japanese Diet, which is Japan ’s main concern,” Santiago said.

The senator said that while the exchange of notes will be brief, the Senate resolution will be much longer, because it will list certain reservations and exceptions, many constitutional provisions, and provisions on customs duties.

“It is important that the Senate concurrence resolution should clarify that any Japanese investment in our country should be made in accordance with the requirement of Philippine laws,” the senator said.

Santiago said that the concurrence resolution will explicitly contain provisions for additional funding of safety nets and other remedial administrative measures.

The senator said that the concurrence resolution should not be rushed because it has to observe the following constitutional provisions: right to health of the people, protection against unfair foreign competition, ownership of all lands of the public domain, utilization of all natural resources, lease and ownership of alienable public lands, ownership and transfer of private lands, reservation of certain areas of investments to Philippine citizens and corporations, preference to qualified Filipinos in the grant of rights covering the national economy and patrimony, regulation of foreign investments, operation of public utilities, preferential use of Filipino labor and domestic materials, practice of professions, ownership and control of additional institutions, transfer of technology, ownership of mass media, and ownership of corporations in the advertising industry.

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16 January 2008

SENATE MULLS LAND USE POLICY

Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago, chair of the Senate energy committee, said that in order to heed the warning of Nobel laureates against indiscriminate biofuel development, a newly created bicameral oversight committee will hold a public hearing on the impact of biofuel farming on land use policy.

Santiago said that the committee might also consider a possible “windfall tax” on absentee landlords with large tracts of land.

“The 2008 budget already contains an appropriation of P10 million in order to constitute the Biofuels Oversight Committee, of which I shall be co-chair with Rep. Mikey Arroyo, who is House energy committee chair,” Santiago said.

She said that it was “rude and peevish” to attack Nobel Prize laureates for cautioning against the rush to biofuel development at the expense of food security.

The three Nobel Prize winners are: Dr. Harmut Michel, Yuan Lee, and Paul Crutzen.
“To anyone with a proper sense of humility, in case of doubt, the presumption should be in favor of the opinion of a Nobel laureate in science. In this case, at least three laureates have issued the same warning. The debate on food versus fuel is not political or legal, but scientific. This means that the national policy issue involved is land use, not capitalist profits which will certainly be made by either side of the controversy,” the senator said.

Santiago said that when she was defending the Biofuels Act on the Senate floor, she received many inquiries and expressions of support from rich landowners with vast tracts of idle land or marginal land hoping to cash in on jatropha and other sources of biofuel.

“If there is a gasoline lobby against biofuel, I can say from personal experience that there is also an absentee landowner lobby for biofuel. Both sides expect to make money at the expense of the other. I have no interest, direct or indirect, in their public debate because I do not own land holdings. I am a legislator tasked with protecting the national interest,” Santiago said.

When media questioned her about debating with Sen. Miguel Zubiri who recently attacked Nobel Laureate Dr. Hartmut Michel for cautioning against indiscriminate biofuel development, Santiago said: “I have no time for that. If indeed there is a debate challenge, I plan to request Koko Pimentel to represent me. He was one of my few brilliant students in UP Law. Unlike others his age, he does not indulge in public breast-beating but devotes himself to quiet academic achievement.”

Still referring to the reported debate challenge, Santiago said: “Anyone challenging me to a publicity debate should wait a little. My granddaughter will represent me. She was born last December.”

-o0o-

16 January 2008

MIRIAM SEEKS JPEPA CONDITIONAL CONCURRENCE

Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago, chair of the Senate foreign relations committee, said she is drafting a resolution of conditional concurrence which she hopes to present to her committee and then to sponsor on the Senate floor when session reopens on January 28.

“The process of Senate concurrence will be twofold, consisting of an exchange of notes between the two governments, and passage by the Senate of a resolution expressing conditional concurrence,” Santiago said.

Santiago said the target date for the entire process is “before March” in order to finish Jpepa before session adjourns on 29 March 2008.

“The exchange of notes will contain the shared understanding of both governments that Jpepa is consistent with their respective constitutions. Specifically, this refers to the Jpepa provisions to accord national treatment and most favored nation (MFN) treatment to, and to refrain from imposing performance requirements, on Jpepa investors,” she said.

Santiago said that constitutional issues in the Philippines are represented by Jpepa provisions on investment in Chapter 8, as well as the Schedule of the Republic of the Philippines in Parts 1 and 2 of Annex 7, giving national treatment and MFN treatment to Japanese investors.

“The Senate concurrence resolution will contain the condition that implementation under Jpepa of national treatment and MFN treatment does not impose any obligation on our country that would be inconsistent with the mandatory provisions of our Constitution,” Santiago said.

Santiago also said that the Senate resolution will also contain the condition that Jpepa will not violate the Philippine Constitution relating to the rights of any person to acquire or dispose of immovable property, public or private.

“The Japanese ambassador has graciously accepted this concept in principle. Our government has explained that the conditions of concurrence serve only to confirm the interpretation of Jpepa, and that the Senate resolution will not modify the obligations of the parties. Thus, there will be no need to return the treaty to the Japanese Diet, which is Japan ’s main concern,” Santiago said.

The senator said that while the exchange of notes will be brief, the Senate resolution will be much longer, because it will list certain reservations and exceptions, many constitutional provisions, and provisions on customs duties.

“It is important that the Senate concurrence resolution should clarify that any Japanese investment in our country should be made in accordance with the requirement of Philippine laws,” the senator said.

Santiago said that the concurrence resolution will explicitly contain provisions for additional funding of safety nets and other remedial administrative measures.

The senator said that the concurrence resolution should not be rushed because it has to observe the following constitutional provisions: right to health of the people, protection against unfair foreign competition, ownership of all lands of the public domain, utilization of all natural resources, lease and ownership of alienable public lands, ownership and transfer of private lands, reservation of certain areas of investments to Philippine citizens and corporations, preference to qualified Filipinos in the grant of rights covering the national economy and patrimony, regulation of foreign investments, operation of public utilities, preferential use of Filipino labor and domestic materials, practice of professions, ownership and control of additional institutions, transfer of technology, ownership of mass media, and ownership of corporations in the advertising industry.

-o0o-

14 January 2008

MIRIAM TO CONGRESS: “DECELERATE” BIOFUEL

Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago, chair of the powerful Joint Congressional Power Commission (JCPC) said she will write Senate President Manny Villar and Speaker Jose de Venecia to provide funds for the newly created Biofuels Oversight Committee, to ensure that “food acreage will not be prejudiced by biofuel acreage.”

Santiago was reacting to a statement in Manila last week of Dr. Hartmut Michel, 1998 Nobel prizewinner for chemistry, that biofuel development is counterproductive, because it produces little energy, compared to other alternative sources.

Ironically, Santiago was the Senate author and sponsor of the Biofuels Act signed by President Arroyo into law in January last year.

“The Biofuels Act is only a cushion for the global increase in oil prices. It is only meant to be a runup to the Renewable Energy Bill, which I will sponsor in the Senate when session opens at the end of the month,” Santiago said.

The Biofuels Act requires a minimum 1 percent biodiesel blend in diesel fuel, and 5 percent bioethanol blend in gasoline fuel, prompting business speculators to call for the conversion of riceland to sugarcane, corn, cassava, nipa, jatropha, palm, soy, grapeseed, and coconut.

“The Biofuels Oversight Committee is intended not only to ensure that the law will reduce the country’s dependence on imported oil, but also to prevent corporate greed and political opportunism from endangering food security,” Santiago said.

Santiago , chair of the Senate energy committee, said that at a recent meeting, her committee voted to adopt all the proceedings of the prior Congress, meaning that the proposed Renewable Energy Bill can go immediately without additional public hearings to the plenary session for debate.

“The Biofuels Act merely addresses energy use in the transport sector. But the renewable energy bill will cover all energy applications outside the transport sector,” Santiago said.

Santiago said that the main emphasis of the renewable energy program should not be biofuel, but hydropower, geothermal, solar, wind, and biomass power.

“Some politicians have overhyped the Biofuels Act to burnish their image, thus misleading the public. The Biofuels Act raises a serious debate on food versus biofuels in a small island country like ours,” she said.

Santiago enthusiastically supported Dr. Michel’s suggestions at the Nobel forum last week that instead of putting money in biofuel development, the government should put money in wind power.

“Biofuel is landbased, and will eventually compete with food. Because the Philippines has a small land area, biofuel production will tend to encroach on food production. Corporations are already searching for millions of hectares for jatropha alone. We have to step on the brakes and decelerate,” Santiago said.

She said that during President Arroyo’s state visit to Spain , Spanish businessmen expressed strong interest in helping the development of wind energy in the Philippines .

Santiago said that the renewable energy bill, like the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA), will establish a renewable energy market and a wholesale electricity spot market.

“The renewable energy bill provide for the green energy option, which gives consumers the choice to use renewable energy, and accelerate open access,” Santiago said.

Santiago said that the renewable energy bill will provide fiscal incentives to eligible proponents such as income tax holiday, preferential realty tax rate, exemptions from import duties, and reduction of the government share from royalties.

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