By MYRNA M. VELASCO
The concern on who shall rightfully shoulder the costs that would account for testing, primarily on vehicle engines and related handling infrastructure on the use of biofuels, has apparently been the main reason for snagged wider use of alternative fuels in the domestic oil market.
This was learned from various stakeholders, including oil and car companies, as they noted that the proposed five-year test protocol was initially dropped by the biofuel suppliers because they do not want to advance the testing costs involved; which could run up to millions of pesos or dollars.
In a consultation with the Department of Energy (DoE), the oil companies reportedly proffered that if they would be made to shoulder the testing costs, then this should be passed on to consumers; and specified as a line item in notices for price adjustments that such amount was expended for biofuel testing. The energy department however thumbed down the proposal; as it does not want the consumers unduly burdened with costs that are supposedly to the account of the biofuel suppliers.
The oil firms are drawing analogy from an instance that when a pharmaceutical company introduces a new product in the market, the firm has to make sure that all tests have been undertaken to ensure that the product is safe and viable for use; and naturally, it has to allot budget for the product’s testing.
"It just makes sense that if you would want to introduce your product in the market, you have to pay for the testing…that does not become a responsibility of the consumers," they said.
It would be noted that issues on technical tests on the use of biofuels, like coco methyl ester (CME) and ethanol, has been drawing intense debates among stakeholders; especially because the government is giving alternatives fuels use policy an aggressive push.
So as not to derail the eventual approval of the proposed Biofuels Act, Bukidnon Rep. Miguel Zubiri, who is the principal author of the measure in the Lower House, declared that he will introduce some amendments in the bill to accommodate demand for comprehensive testing - at least over a two-year period.
"This takes the form of a compromise, we need to inject some sense of fairness, so we use the two-year window as the period for all tests needed on the use of all biofuels… be that ethanol or biodiesel like CME," he said.
He said that this amendment would be his pet provision to be injected during bicameral deliberations on the measure.
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