Dr. Maria Socorro Gochoco-Bautista, professor at the University of the Philippines School of Economics, presented her comments on the EPDP energy working paper at the RTD.

According to Dr. Gochoco-Bautista, “In the numerical exercises [of EPDP], output growth is exogenous so it is unclear how generation costs and electricity prices affect output growth.” She also showed a simple model of the energy sector which is displayed in the last page of the document.

She added that the “policy recommendations section [has] recommendations that economists can legitimately make but which are not naturally derived from the numerical exercises and the narrow goals of the paper.”

In addition, she notes towards the end that “in general, the paper should have a proper review of the literature on the price of electricity in the Philippines”, and  “would also suggest that certain statements not germane to the paper and which have political undertones be deleted.”