THE COUNTRY will soon have its own institution that that will focus on technical know-how and enable the Philippines to keep up with technological innovations and energy and policy research, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said on Tuesday.

President Rodrigo Duterte recently signed Republic Act 11572 which established the Philippine Energy Research and Policy Institute.

Gatchalian was the principal author of the law.

“Isang malaking katuparan na matagal na nating minimithi ang magkaroon ng isang energy research and policy institute na nakatuon at malayang makakapagsaliksik ng mga panuntunan at mga makabago o scientific breakthroughs na magpapaunlad sa sektor ng enerhiya ng bansa,” Gatchalian said.

He expressed appreciation for the enactment of the measure under the Duterte administration.

“An independent research institute, PERPI will be a think-tank, a laboratory, an innovation incubator, and a sparring partner of the government energy policy apparatus all-in-one,” the chairman of the Senate Energy Committee said.

He thanked Senators Joel Villanueva, Migz Zubiri, Risa Hontiveros, and Ronald dela Rosa for co-authoring the law.

As a publicly-funded institute attached to the University of the Philippines, PERPI’s research and policy development activities can be utilized to craft energy sector reforms for the benefit of the national economy.

PERPI will also establish linkages with government agencies, other universities, and private and public institutions on existing energy research and policy studies, develop programs and capacity building trainings on energy, enhance the masters and doctoral pool of researchers and faculty in the field of energy, and serve as the repository of all energy-related researches, studies and data.