MANILA, Philippines — The legal team of Batangas 1st District Representative Leandro Leviste has cited the absence of Department of Energy (DOE) implementing guidelines as the reason his Solar Para sa Bayan franchise failed to supply electricity to unserved and underserved areas.
Speaking in a television interview on Thursday, September 24, legal spokesperson Atty. Antonio “Tony” La Viña explained that a congressional franchise alone was insufficient to begin nationwide power distribution.
He stated that the venture required specific regulations and official identification of service areas from the DOE, neither of which was issued before the franchise was automatically revoked between late 2021 and early 2022.
“Yung solar ng bayan franchise, yun yung sinasabi na dapat i-serve lahat ng mga unserved, diba? Rural areas, yun yung nationwide solar para sa bayan. So that was for the whole country, no? Unfortunately, that required the DOE issue rules and regulations to implement that franchise,” La Viña said.
“Yeah, kailangan ng DOE yun. Kasi hindi ba basta-basta may franchise ka magagawa mo, kailangan may rules and regulations. And then more importantly, kailangan ma-identify yung areas kung saan mo dalhin yung kuryente mo. None of that happened,” he added.
“Kasi paano naman ma-implement kung walang implementing rules and regulations? Paano ma-implement kung walang areas na na-identify, diba?”
La Viña, who also represents Leviste’s mother, Senator Loren Legarda, clarified that framing an Office of the Ombudsman complaint against them around the stalled franchise is misleading.
He emphasized that the legal challenge actually addresses separate renewable energy (RE) service contracts granted to Leviste-linked firms.
“So, even the complaint that the ombudsman is asking Senator Loren and Congressman Leviste to respond to, doesn’t really talk about the solar ng bayan. Ang kaso talaga na sinasabi nila na yun yung hindi niya nagawa ay yung renewable energy service contracts or RECs. Kasi sabi nila, you got all of these contracts and you did not implement them,” La Viña explained.
Unlike the nationwide microgrid franchise that stalled due to missing regulatory frameworks, the RE service contracts involve distinct legal obligations regarding whether individual renewable energy project sites were actively developed.