House panel approves incentives in downstream natural gas bill
A HOUSE committee has approved the fiscal and other incentives for investors in a measure seeking to develop the country’s downstream natural gas industry.
“The substitute bill mandates more incentives, foremost of which is that the sale of natural gas to locators inside ecozones shall be subject to 0% value-added tax,” SAGIP Party-list Rep. Rodante D. Marcoleta told the committee.
He added that more natural gas projects, as certified by the Department of Energy, “shall be entitled to the additional incentives provided by other relevant agencies.”
The bill seeks to establish the Philippines as a liquefied natural gas (LNG) trading and transshipment hub in the Asia-Pacific region.
The proposed law provides a “framework for the development of the Philippine downstream natural gas industry and its transition from emerging into [a] mature industry within a competitive natural gas market,” according to the unnumbered substitute bill.
Under the bill, sectors involved will be natural gas supply and aggregation, LNG bunkering, LNG storage and regasification terminals, conventional and virtual transportation systems, their related facilities, and end-users.
The bill is part of the common legislative agenda of the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC).
“The consuming public will benefit from the expanded use of natural gas given the chance for the industry to develop and be successful,” Mr. Marcoleta said. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz
