Covid-19: Lessons for the Philippine power sector
Published in Business Mirror, 08 June 2020 DOWNLOAD PDF By Sara Jane Ahmed, Alberto Dalusung III, Jose Logarta Jr., and Pete Maniego Jr. WHEN the novel coronavirus first appeared in China late last year, nobody expected that the new disease, officially dubbed Covid-19 by the World Health Organization in February 2020, would become a global pandemic. Advanced and developing economies were ill prepared for its impact. Public health systems were overwhelmed. Broad and restrictive quarantine measures, including lockdowns, were imposed, severely restricting global and domestic economic activity. The preliminary numbers indicate the impact on the global [...]
Is coal dying, or dead, in the Philippines?
Reposted from BusinessMirror, read original article here. By Viking Logarta & Sara Jane Ahmed Yes to the first, and a nuanced no to the second. President Duterte said in his State of the Nation Address last year: “We recognize the urgent need to ensure the sustainability and availability of resources, and the development of alternative ones. In this regard, I trust that Secretary Cusi shall fast-track also the development of renewable-energy sources, and reduce dependence on the traditional energy sources, such as coal.” The Department of Energy (DOE) is not only aware of this growing dependence and growing grid [...]