MANILA, Philippines -- Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago called the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) a nest of syndicates worse than the Bureau of Customs, causing electricity rates to remain high despite the passage of a law seeking to bring them down seven years ago.

In a press conference, Santiago said the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA), the executive department, and the legislature are all failures "dahil yang Meralco na yan dapat pasabugin yan. Pugad yan ng mga sindikato. Mas grabe pa yan sa Bureau of Customs [because that Meralco should be bombed. It is a nest of syndicates. It's worse than the Bureau of Customs]."

Santiago, who as chairman of the Senate energy committee co-chairs the Joint Congressional Power Commission with Representative Juan Miguel Arroyo, called "a battle of titans" the scheduled hearing on Monday, at which Government Service Insurance System president Winston Garcia will be asked to enumerate the ways Meralco has allegedly been mismanaged, thus allowing the very high electricity rates.

She said the hearing will not focus on the ownership issue. "That is the business of business," she said, adding that changing Meralco's management staff does not guarantee that electricity costs will go down.

The senator proposed instead the appointment of a Meralco administrator, a "street-smart" graft-buster who is not just a technocrat.

Asked if she has anyone in mind, she said, "Mga rebeldeng sundalo kaya [Perhaps rebel soldiers]," eliciting laughter.

Santiago said the management of the electric giant is divided among "little mafias."

"That is a conglomeration of mafias. And I am sure -- although I may not have the evidence -- that there is a crime involved. That's the crime of a combination in restraint of trade and monopoly. That is punishable under the penal code," she said.

She said the syndicates entrenched in Meralco are involved in selling not just power -- through Meralco-owned independent power producers allegedly involved in "sweetheart deals" -- but also in the sale of electric posts, cables, meters, and other components needed in such a business.

"Kaya ang binibilhan nya sarili din nya [Meralco buys from itself]. That is [a] sweetheart deal or self dealing and of course it is an act inimical to the public interest apart from a criminal offense," she said.

Santiago suggested that the Department of Justice make an example of Meralco, and use the single anti-trust provision in the penal code to run after it.

"I'm not particularly talking of the Lopez group; they're simply the owners. Sometimes the owner just participates in the profits and allows other people to run his business. That's normally the habit of rich people," she said.

The hearing, she said, would expose who between Meralco executives and GSIS' Garcia is making more sense.

Santiago said Monday's hearing and another one the following Monday will result in amendments to the EPIRA, which is being debated at the Senate floor.