Arroyo call for power rate review defended
By Christine Avendaño, Gil C. Cabacungan Jr.
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 02:34:00 05/05/2008
Filed Under: Electricity Production & Distribution, Consumer Issues
MANILA, Philippines—Concern about high electricity rates – not a push against the Lopez family and Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) – prompted President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to go before state energy regulators, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said Sunday.
Ermita made the statement after lawmakers questioned Ms Arroyo's move calling for big business to back her petition against Meralco, saying it was just "a continuation" of her fight against the Lopez family.
He said Ms Arroyo called him late Thursday to ask about the status of the government's petition with the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) seeking the lowering of Meralco's power rates in Luzon.
At the time, Ermita said, the President was reviewing the speech she was to deliver to a gathering of businessmen the next day, where she called for support in the "tough legal fight" against Meralco in the ERC hearings beginning Tuesday for the lowering of power rates in Luzon.
In a phone interview, Ermita said Ms Arroyo asked for an impromptu meeting at midnight Thursday that lasted until dawn with Trade Secretary Peter Favila, Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes and ERC Chair Rodolfo Albano.
Ermita said the President was told that the petition filed by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) upon her instruction had been sent back to the department.
"The ERC was questioning the personality of the DTI," he said.
Albano was told that the DTI had an office which looked after the protection of consumers and that this made it a "mother agency," according to Ermita. This "convinced" Albano to accept the government petition and to call for a hearing on Tuesday, he said.
"The petition will be resubmitted or it may have been already submitted by the DTI to the ERC last Friday," Ermita said.
GSIS vs Meralco
Ermita denied that Ms Arroyo and the group also discussed the dispute between the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and Meralco.
GSIS president Winston Garcia last week demanded that Meralco open its books and records to scrutiny as he complained of being fed up with the power firm's lack of transparency. The GSIS has four seats on the power utility's 11-member board.
"The thing never came up in our discussions," Ermita said. "We're not targeting Meralco."
Told that some lawmakers were questioning the President's call for businessmen to participate in the ERC hearing, Ermita said she merely wanted everyone to join in the effort "that would be to the best interest of the people."
Amend power reform act
Sen. Panfilo Lacson Sunday said that Ms Arroyo should focus on backing pending bills seeking to amend the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 (EPIRA) rather than engaging the Lopez family in a proxy fight to force Meralco to slash its rates.
Lacson is questioning Malacañang's real motives in taking over the country's most coveted utility.
Should the President fail to get a loyal ally to succeed her in 2010, Lacson said that getting control of utility firms such as power and water would give a "private citizen" tremendous power.
"You just can't be kicked around or harassed," he said in an interview with dzBB radio.
No guarantee
"Why are they too eager for a takeover? Is that a guarantee that power rates will go down with a government takeover? It might even go up because they have a personal interest there," Lacson said.
"If Malacañang is sincere, it should throw its support to the bill of Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile amending EPIRA because that will really lead to lower rates, such as removing the universal charge which is a burden for consumers as part of the PPA (power purchase agreement)," he said.
The opposition senator does not see any point to the apparent Malacañang-sanctioned proxy battle being launched by the GSIS to wrest control of Meralco from the Lopez group by getting more board seats in its annual stockholders meeting later this month.
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