EU envoy says €39-M Mindanao energy projects may not materialize

Around €39 million or P2.5 billion worth of sustainable energy projects in Mindanao may not push through after the Philippine government formally declined to accept aid from the bloc.

The EU delegation to Manila has made the contractors aware that the projects are not likely to materialize anymore, EU Ambassador to the Philippines Franz Jessen told GMA News Online on Thursday.

Jessen said the projects were meant to provide off-grid and far-flung areas in Mindanao with renewable source of electricity, particularly solar power plants.

“If the current financing agreement is not extended by the government, it will not be possible to push through as foreseen initially,” Jessen noted.

The fourth phase of the Trade-Related Technical Assistance (TRTA), amounting to €6.1 million or around P380 million, was rejected by the Philippine government in December last year.

Jessen said the EU is remains open to pursuing the energy projects in Mindanao “if the Philippines still wants.”

“We will need the agreement by DOF (Department of Finance) to push through,” he said.

Jessen earlier said Mindanao would get a big chunk of the €300-million development assistance to the Philippines until 2020, part of which would support the energy sector in the south.

In May last year, the Philippines said it will no longer accept development aid from the EU.

President Rodrigo Duterte has repeatedly lambasted the EU for attaching conditions to its assistance, such as imposing human rights regulations in exchange for money. —VDS, GMA News