THE Department of Energy (DOE) defended its proposed P5.58-billion spending program for 2027 before the Senate on Thursday, outlining plans to strengthen domestic energy security through new oil and gas surveys and greater use of locally produced coal.
Senator Erwin Tulfo, chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy, led the deliberations on the budgets and programs of the DOE, Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) and other attached agencies and corporations.
Energy Secretary Sharon Garin and other energy officials faced questions on the government’s energy supply, power costs and efforts to reduce the country’s dependence on imported fuel.
Of the DOE’s P5.58-billion spending program for next year, P3.55 billion, or 63.6 percent, will come from automatic appropriations supported by revenues from energy service contracts and other collections.
Only P2.03 billion will come from new appropriations, with DOE Undersecretary Alexander Bacordo saying these would decline by about P935 million from the 2026 level.
The department also disclosed plans to undertake extensive surveys of potential domestic oil and gas resources.
Under the P2.79-billion Philippine Gradiometry and Seismic Survey Project, the government will survey around 40,000 square kilometers of the Agusan-Davao Basin in 2026 and another 80,000 sq km in the Visayan Basin in 2027.
The project revives government-led exploration of major oil and gas basins after about four decades as the Philippines seeks additional indigenous energy resources.
Local coal
Tulfo also questioned why locally produced coal continues to be exported while Philippine power plants rely heavily on imported coal.
‘Bakit hindi natin gamitin yung coal ng Semirara?’ Tulfo asked.
Garin said many existing coal-fired power plants were designed to use Indonesian-grade coal and cannot simply substitute locally produced Semirara coal.
The DOE is therefore studying the establishment of a coal-blending facility or terminal that could mix Philippine coal with other grades to produce fuel suitable for existing power plants.
‘Dapat yung coal natin as much as possible, we use it domestically,’ Garin said.
DOE data showed Indonesia accounted for 98.8 percent of Philippine coal imports in 2023.
Garin said, however, that even if all Semirara coal production were retained for domestic consumption, it would satisfy only around 10 percent of the country’s coal requirements.
ERC seeks bigger budget
The ERC, meanwhile, cited its revenue collections as it sought additional funding for 2027 to accelerate rate reviews, upgrade its digital systems and gradually expand consumer access to the competitive electricity market.
ERC Chairman Francis Saturnino Juan told senators that the regulator generated P2.354 billion in revenues in 2025, more than double its P1.065-billion target.
‘So, as you can see, the ERC is a net revenue generator, a cash machine for the government,’ Juan said.
The ERC said additional resources would support efforts to reduce regulatory backlogs and eventually allow smaller electricity consumers, including households, greater choice of power suppliers.
Also attending the hearing were Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian and Senators Juan Miguel Zubiri and Pia Cayetano.