Developing pro-poor markets for environmental services in the ...

allowed under this fund. The reason given by Mr Binag of DOE was that there were more
rules to follow in availing of the DLF, thus LGUs preferred to submit project proposals under
the RWMHEEF. For one, the appropriation of funds from one energy project among the host
barangay, host municipality and host province was very specific for the DLF. 57 There was no
appropriation required under the RWMHEEF, thus LGUs were more flexible in the amounts
they could request under this fund. Hence, the choice of LGUs availing more of the
RWMHEEF was not necessarily due to the nature of allowable projects.
The interview with Yolanda Villaseñor further revealed that although there is a huge amount
of money accrued through the fund, there is actually very little cash that can be disbursed.
She claims that at the time of the interview, there was only PhP25,000 cash on hand that
could be used for project proposals. When asked how this happened, she declined to give any
details. It can only be surmised that money is used for other purposes, because even
according to the DOE, the power-generating companies had been remitting funds regularly.
Nevertheless, if project proposals are made and approved, they would source the funds from
elsewhere, i.e. internally within DOE or NPC. Hence, the current lack of funds would not
derail the implementation of project proposals from host communities, according to
Villaseñor.
4.2.6 Matrix of approved projects
Under the RWMHEEF fund, there have been a total of 349 projects, with a total
disbursement of PhP413,935,169, for 38 power plants, over a period of 8.5 years. There are
actually a total of around 100 power plants all over the country, but these power plants that
have availed of funding are supplying 59 per cent of total electricity generated nationwide.
Out of the total, the majority of the projects are found in Luzon, with metropolitan Manila
enjoying the biggest share, in terms of number of projects and amount. This is, of course,
more or less proportional to the number of power plants located per regional centre.
Probably of more interest would be the nature of the projects being implemented under this
fund. As shown in Table 4.8, more than half of the projects are either health-related, or watersupply
projects of the host communities. This is to be expected, given that most of these
communities hosting energy projects are in lower-class municipalities, hence have very
backward infrastructure in public services. Since LGUs are involved in the formulation of
guidelines for the fund, a bias would be expected towards projects that reflect the more
pressing needs of their constituents, most of which are more directly related to people’s
everyday needs. However, what this translates to is a very low investment – 8 per cent – in
watershed-rehabilitation projects in particular, and 22 per cent for enhancement of
environmental services in general. The latter would include erosion-control and solid-waste
management projects.
57
The DLF requires that the host barangay, municipality and province each get a fixed share from each energy project
located therein.
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