In a recent televised address, President Rodrigo Duterte claimed that electricity in the country is “produced by oil.” This needs context.
Oil is not the country’s dominant power source. It is only one of several sources being harnessed by the government and the private sector.
STATEMENT
During his March 21 “Talk to the People” address, Duterte cited the impact of the disruption in the oil supply chain due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and explained to Filipinos how the Philippine economy is largely dependent on oil.
He said:
“Kaya kung ang oil mawala, tataas talaga lahat pati ano ninyo. Ganoon ka-valuable ‘yung oil na kung mawala sa atin o kukulangin tayo, ang ano is magmahal ang pamasahe at ang mga production nito magmahal…”
(If oil [supply] will be gone, [the prices of all products] will increase. This is how valuable oil is. If we lose oil or have a limited supply, [transport] fares and production costs will increase.)
He went on to say that the country “cannot dispense oil without suffering” because “everything depends on it,” adding:
“[A]ng sikreto ng oil is gasolina — pagpatakbo ng mga sasakyan ninyo. And iyong factory gagamit ng power and the — iyong elektrisidad is produced by oil. Ang makinarya (run by electricity produced by oil), so lahat, taas lahat.”
(The secret of oil is gasoline — [it’s used to make] vehicles run. Factories use power and the — the electricity is produced by oil. Machines [are run by electricity produced by oil]. So [the price] of every [product] will increase.)
Source: Presidential Communications Operations Office, Talk to the People of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, March 22, 2022, watch from 24:00 to 26:06
FACT
While oil is, indeed, used to generate electricity, it is not the only power source available, nor is it the most used in the Philippines.
In 2020, the Department of Energy (DOE) reported that coal is the top power source in the country, generating 58,176 gigawatts of electricity per hour, which comprises 57.17% of the total 101,756 gigawatts per hour produced across all sources.
Oil, which generates 2,474 gigawatts per hour, is only fourth, next to natural gas and geothermal.
Latest data from the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines, a privately owned corporation managing one of the country’s largest state-owned power grids, likewise showed that coal is the most used source among its power plants, producing 59.43 million megawatts of electricity per hour of the 102.19 million megawatts per hour total gross generated energy in 2021. The second top source was combined cycle/natural gas followed by geothermal.
There is an ongoing global effort led by the United Nations (UN) to phase out all coal power plants by 2040 and shift to renewable energy. According to the UN, burning fossil fuels – such as coal, petroleum (crude oil), and natural gas – to generate power or run machineries is the largest contributor to climate change.
In the Philippines, the DOE created the “Philippine Energy “Philippine Energy Plan 2020-2040” to guide the country’s transition to clean and renewable energy sources like geothermal, hydroelectric, biomass, ocean, solar and wind, pursuant to the Republic Act 9513, also known as the Renewable Energy Act of 2008.
Sources
Presidential Communications Operations official website, Talk to the People of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, March 21, 2022 (transcript)
Department of Energy official website, 2020 Key Energy Statistics (KES), 2020
National Grid Corporation of the Philippines official website, Operations Data (data on GROSS GENERATION PER PLANT TYPE), Accessed March 31, 2022
National Grid Corporation of the Philippines official website, Corporate Profile, Accessed March 31, 2022
National Grid Corporation of the Philippines official website, Operations (Scope), Accessed March 31, 2022
National Grid Corporation of the Philippines official website, Operations (Functions), Accessed March 31, 2022
United Nations Climate Change official website, End of Coal in Sight at COP26 | UNFCCC, Nov. 4, 2021
United Nations, Secretary-General’s remarks to Economist Sustainability Summit, March 21, 2022
United Nations Climate Change official website, Causes and Effects of Climate Change, Accessed March 31, 2022
United Nations Climate Change official website, What Is Climate Change?, Accessed March 31, 2022
Department of Energy official website, Philippine Energy Plan 2020-2040, Accessed March 31, 2022
Department of Energy official website, Renewable Energy, Accessed March 31, 2022
(Guided by the code of principles of the International Fact-Checking Network at Poynter, VERA Files tracks the false claims, flip-flops, misleading statements of public officials and figures, and debunks them with factual evidence. Find out more about this initiative and our methodology.)
