Tropical Philippines may potentially source all its daily requirements from solar power, but it remains a pipe dream as production contracts approved by the government are embroiled in political patronage, controversy, corruption and predation.
A month into the war in the West Asia, the country scrambles to buy fuel from other countries aside from its usual sources to ensure supply. While the Ferdinand Marcos Sr. government assures of more stocks coming from new sources like Russia, it however contents itself with begging Filipinos to implement energy-saving measures to help stretch resources while hostilities in the Middle East prolongs.
The country consumes 20,669 megawatt (MW) of electricity daily, majority of which is in Luzon (14,769 MW), followed by Visayas 93,111 MW) and Mindanao (2,789 MW). Nearly 60% of these are generated by dirty coal-fired power plants. Natural gas produces 18-24 per cent while geothermal and hydroelectric round it up at eight to 10 per cent and eight to 12 per cent, accordingly.
But in smaller and isolated provinces of the archipelagic country remain off-grid and still rely on power barges that use crude oil. They are most vulnerable to supply disruptions such as those brought about the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
But the Philippines may not be as desperate if only solar generation licenses were not given to well-connected entities that treat renewable energy as nothing more than a scheme to get rich quickly.
It is sunny for most of the year in the Philippines, with an average of five full hours of sun every day. This is ideal for photovoltaic panels to capture energy to turn into electricity. With this technology’s steady advance, thousands of households, business and government offices started putting up solar panels on rooftops in the 2010s to help lessen dependence on one of Asia’s most expensive electricity. Progressive legislators of the Makabayan Coalition even started proposing legislation for the development of a million solar-powered households. They were ignored.
Nepo baby to overnight billionaire
Instead, the Philippine Congress in 2019 awarded a national franchise to a son of a senator who has thus far failed to deliver on his promise despite becoming ultra-rich in the process.
A 20-year old Leandro Leviste started a company that installed rooftop solar panels in 2013. But he was no business prodigy; he was most likely help along by his parents’ funds. He is the son of estranged couple Senator Loren Legarda and former Batangas governor and convicted murderer Antonio Leviste.
In 2016 and 2017, the younger Leviste established his first solar farm in Batangas and his solar panel factory, respectively. But those were peanuts compared to his next move: a Congressional franchise to make him the biggest fish in the solar energy pond. Again, no thanks to his parents’ connections.
Former Manila mayor and legislator Lito Atienza revealed earlier this year that the franchise given to Leandro’s Solar Para Sa Bayan (Solar for the People) company in 2019 was awarded due to active lobbying by his mother, Senator Legarda. Despite Atienza’s opposition, the House of Representatives awarded the company a generous 25-year franchise to produce 12,000 MW daily, nearly two-thirds of the country’s electricity requirements. It did not hurt that Senator Legarda was an ally of the then Rodrigo Duterte government.
Under the said franchise, Leandro formed the Solar Philippines Nueva Ecija Corporation that went public in December 2021, becoming the first company to list under the Philippine Stock Exchange’s renewable energy rules without a prior profit track record. He earned P34 billion (Dh2.61) overnight, making him one of the youngest billionaires of the country. He later renamed it Solar Philippines Power Project Holdings Inc. (SPPHI), a name-change befitting a billion-peso corporation.
Solar energy as victim of Duterte-Marcos feud
In May 2025, Leandro was elected as Batangas 1st District Representative and started comporting himself as an anti-corruption crusader when the flood control scandal blew up under the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. government.
But as a pro-Duterte legislator, it did not take long for his business problems to be brought out into the sun, so to speak.
The Department of Energy revealed that 33 contracts of SPPHI, representing a potential capacity of approximately 11,427.83 MW had been voided due to “non-delivery.”
Marcos allies also threatened imposing a hefty penalty on the younger Leviste for selling part of his holdings to power generator and distributor Meralco without seeking necessary permission from Congress.
Leviste has since significantly quieted down on his allegations of corruption under Marcos, even making himself scarce in the halls of Congress for stretches. Threats against his holdings company have correspondingly muffled down as well. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
