MANILA, Philippines -- (UPDATE 2) Senators on Monday slammed the Foreign Chambers of Commerce for saying Congress should not amend the Energy and Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA).

In a privileged speech, Senator Juan Ponce-Enrile, who sponsored Senate Bill 2121, which is being debated in the Senate, said foreign investors, whom he called “carpetbaggers, predators, and buccaneers,” have no right to intervene in the country's political process.

"Who are these people coming here to say, 'you do this, you do that'? To them, I say, the hell with you, get out of this country,” Enrile said. “If you want to do business under the system with us, to those who are lecturing to us, enough is enough. It is not right for foreigners to be meddling in our affairs, meddling in the workings of government, meddling in our political life, duties of duly elected representatives of the people."

"We serve the interest of poor household users. Who are these foreigners to tell us what to do?" he asked.

Enrile proposed that officials of these foreign chambers be called to the Senate to explain their position.

Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago, co-chair of the Joint Congressional Power Commission (PowerCom), expressed the same sentiment but less angrily.

Acting on Enrile's proposal, she said the officials of the Joint Foreign Chambers will be invited to the next Powercom hearing on Friday at 11 a.m.

In a one-sentence statement, the Joint Foreign Chambers said: "If we are invited by the Senate, we are more than willing to get our point across."

She said the Joint Foreign Chambers' statements, which were taken from its letter to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, can only be taken as a recommendation and not an order because it has no power to issue orders to Congress.

"They are mere guests in our country. They are welcome guests, but they should not overstay their welcome. They can just make a recommendation [saying] 'please do not touch the bill.' But certainly, no group of foreigners, even if they are investors, can tell the Philippine Congress 'do not touch that bill,'" Santiago said.

Santiago, who as chairman of the Senate energy committee has delegated the bill to amend EPIRA to Enrile, pointed out that the entire EPIRA need to be amended as determined by the Philippine government.

"But for my part, I will say that the only problem with the IPPs [independent power producers] is that they have a take-or-pay provision which is very onerous to the Filipino taxpayer. The foreigners can source their electricity from IPPs with take-or-pay provisions but it should not be a standard clause in our contracts of the government and the IPPs," she said.

Senator Joker Arroyo, who did not vote for the EPIRA, said the law has failed to fulfill its objectives: reducing power rates and reducing the debt of the National Power Corp.

He also called the foreign investors group's view "jaundiced."

But he added that as the recommendation was addressed to the President in a letter, the chief executive should ignore it because amending EPIRA is the prerogative of Congress.

"Will they ask their respective parliaments that laws that are not working should not be touched?" he asked.

Senator Edgardo Angara also said the foreign investors' concern that the take-or-pay provision might be taken out will not impair existing contracts.

He said their claim that EPIRA amendments would result in an unstable legal framework of the energy industry is "outrageous" and "preposterous" as these changes are precisely to reform the industry.

Senator Francis Escudero said he is interpellating in Filipino to make it difficult for the foreign investors to understand the debate. Senator Richard Gordon is "aghast" at the position taken by the Joint Foreign Chambers.

The Joint Foreign Chambers is made up of the chambers of commerce and industry of investors from America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, and Europe, among others.