MANILA, Philippines--Militant groups who trooped to the Manila Electric Company’s stockholders' meeting in Pasig City on Tuesday, called for stronger consumer representation in running power utilities, aside from pressing for lower power rates.

"The high cost of power must be addressed decisively by the government not only because it is a bane to production but is also a heavy burden to the poor," said Partido ng Manggawa chair Renato Magtubo.

Members of the Freedom from Debt Coalition referred to the ongoing verbal tussle between Winston Garcia, president of Government Service Insurance System, which holds the second largest stake in Meralco, and the Lopezes, the franchise owner of Meralco, as "a battle between two elephants in which the grass suffers."

"In this power play of two elite groups vying for the control of the power sector, through the strategic control of Meralco, it is the consumer who suffers as manifested in the form of high electricity rates," said FDC media officer Bobby Diciembre.

In Pasay City, about 100 members of the Confederation for the Unity, Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees picketed the GSIS central office to demand that the state pension fund focus more on giving services to its clients rather than going after Meralco.

Courage leader Ferdinand Gaite added that as the genuine stockholders of Meralco, being the owners of the GSIS fund, the government employees had the right to be concerned on how their hard-earned contribution was being invested or squandered.

"Although lowering the cost of electricity is also our concern as low-salaried workers, our paramount interest is to protect the funds invested in Meralco," Gaite told reporters.

He claimed that more than P2.4 billion of the 25-percent share of the GSIS has been lost due to the plummeting of the Meralco stocks recently.

"If Garcia is really after the interest of the members, then his actions are on the contrary because all the noises he created have brought the value of the stocks down and not the cost of electricity as he claims," Giate said.

Courage also announced plans to file a new case at the Ombudsman against the Garcia in the coming days in relation to these losses.

"The GSIS may claim the Board of Trustees and officials have the authority to decide where to use the GSIS investment fund based on the GSIS charter. However, this authority to invest should be made with utmost prudence, the gains should be outweighing the risks all the time," Gaite said.

PM"s Magtubo said he had "strong doubts" that that rates would go down after the highly charged corporate battle inside Meralco.

"Rates reduction can only become a major agenda of a shareholders’ meeting of Meralco if raised by a significant number of consumers who are shareholders themselves. But not in this kind of set-up where the stockholders' immediate concern is the future of their investment," he said.

PM and the Freedom from Debt Coalition called for the "democratization" of the ownership structure of power utilities, which. they said, may be achieve by converting billions of pesos of refunds due to consumers into equity share in Meralco.

But as an immediate measure to bring down rates, the groups wanted a major change in government’s policies.

PM and FDC reiterated calls for the removal of the value added tax on power and oil; renegotiation/cancellation of the National Power Corp.'s and Meralco’s onerous independent power producer contracts; and further rationalization of systems loss by disallowing administrative and other non-technical losses to be passed on to consumers.

Magtubo said these measures fell mainly within the government's area of responsibility and not on Meralco’s shareholders. He added, however, that the Lopezes should also be made to answer for their actions, which contributed to the significant rise in electricity rates in its franchise area.

"Having a 70-percent share in the Luzon market is clearly an advantage for Meralco. And it is also in this kind of monopoly where consumers are taken advantage of," explained the labor leader, referring to self-dealing transactions between Meralco, its independent power producers and its subsidiaries.

FDC's Diciembre called for the reversal of performance base rate (PBR) methodology that departed from the previous return on rate base (RORB) methodology that only allowed 8-12 percent return on public utilities. He said there should also be reforms in Energy Regulatory Commission to make it a more competent and representative regulatory body.

According to FDC, the the high cost of power in the country is brought about by the confluence of many factors, including government’s flawed policies on debt, privatization, taxes, and weak regulatory regime.

PM said fundamental reforms in power utilities could only be effected if consumers were given right and access to records and ultimately a voice in running these utilities, which the group added, was not possible until these utilities were freed from the control of the "elites."

"The old set-up made the power industry in the country less transparent and inherently fraudulent. But the Malacañang-backed power grab in Meralco is not a promising prospect either, with a new pack of cronies that would most likely take over," the group said.

FDC said it wanted an end to elite control of power utilities and was against the rise of new type of cronyism in the industry.

For FDC, fundamental reforms in Meralco cannot be made possible both under the old set-up and even after the power grab, adding, "Not until its ownership structure is finally democratized where consumers are given the chance to exercise their rights not only as customers but also as part-owners of the utility."

"We believe that the power industry today and in the future can be made more responsive and of better service to communities if consumers are treated not as mere captive market but partners or part-owners of the industry," Diciembre said.

Meanwhile, the Courage rally in Pasay was joined by contingents from the Senate, National Housing Authority, Philippine Fisheries Development Authority, National Food Authority, National Parks Development Committee, Metropolitan Development Authority, and the labor, environment and social welfare departments.

The protesters highlighted their problems with the GSIS, such as the systems’ glitch in the agency's computerization that made loan proceeds and benefits unavailable especially to far flung areas; non-posting on time of the employees’ payments resulting in higher interest rates; the inconveniences of the GSIS e-card, especially for the pensioners and retirees; and the premium-based policy which made it more difficult for the employees to retire.