In support of the Marcos Jr. administration’s goal of integrating all energy-related processes in the country, Marinduque lone district representative Lord Allan Velasco reiterated that implementing the Energy Virtual One-Stop Shop (EVOSS) Act would streamline the permitting process of power generation, transmission and distribution projects which would result in the reduction in business costs and encourage more investors to invest in the Philippines.

Under the new law, prospective power generation, transmission or distribution companies will be able to apply, monitor and receive all the necessary permits, and even pay for charges and fees, through the online platform called EVOSS.

Once it takes full effect, it will cut down the steps in seeking a permit, a lengthy process that has turned off investors in the past. The system will be managed and maintained by the Department of Energy (DoE) while its operations will be monitored by the EVOSS Steering Committee.

Corollary to this, President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. has directed the energy department under Secretary Raphael Lotilla to further expedite the integration of all applications and permitting processes for projects in the Energy Virtual One-Stop Shop (EVOSS).

“We try to get as close as possible to the simultaneous processing. As we discussed earlier, we never get it in that straight line that you have. But at least we’ll push it as far as we can,” the chief executive pointed out.

EVOSS was rolled out in July 2020 to accept online energy-related applications and as of September 27, at least 56 out of 103 processes had been integrated into the EVOSS.

President Marcos Jr. stressed that the government aims to integrate all energy-related processes by June 2028 and he has already ordered the DoE to notify agencies about its upcoming endorsement so that they can start the permit processing before the official recommendation is made.

“One of the issues that we want to address (here) is the lengthy permitting process and the numerous permits and clearances required from companies before they can do business in the Philippines,” he concluded.