Mindanao stakeholders against privatization of hydropower plants

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – People in Mindanao, from politicians to businessmen to advocacy groups, strongly opposed the impending sale of Agus and Pulangi hydropower plants, and urged the government to amend the Electric Power Industry Reform Act.

They also opposed the proposed power interconnection between Mindanao and Leyte, saying it will only bring the high cost of power in Visayas and Luzon to Mindanao.

Lanao del Norte Governor Mohamad Khalid Dimaporo told reporters here that the Mindanao governors on Friday passed a resolution opposing the planned privatization of Agus and Pulangi hydro power plants.

Of the 26 Mindanao governors, 18 showed up at the Mindanao Power Summit, deemed the largest gathering of power industry stakeholders, held at the Davao Insular Hotel here on Friday.

Dimaporo added that Mindanao governors had also reached a consensus seeking amendments to the Epira law.

Davao del Norte Governor Rodolfo del Rosario, speaking for the Confederation of Governors, City Mayors and Municipal Mayors’ League Presidents (Confed), also called on President Benigno Aquino III to certify as urgent the needed amendments in the Epira law.

“Epira has not worked for the island of Mindanao after 11 years of implementation,” Del Rosario said.

Sarangani Gov. Miguel Dominguez believes the long-term solution to power problem in Mindanao is to maintain National Power Corporation (NPC) control over the hydro-power plants.

“The national government must extend Napocor control over the hydropower plants at the same time it must increase the base load capacity of power generation sector in Mindanao,” Dominguez proposed.

This, Dominguez said, means doing away with privatization of Napocor assets–hydropower plants and power barges – as mandated by the Epira law, and inviting investors to pour in capital on power generation sector.

Dominguez blames national government’s lack of focus and prioritization particularly in addressing looming power crisis.

“As early as 2000, we already had been discussing the impending power problem. The national government should fast-track the implementation of projects to address the problem immediately,” Dominguez said.

Energy Secretary Jose Almendras on Friday took responsibility for the power crisis in Mindanao, saying it was “his own fault,” and not the President’s.

“We assume the responsibility that we failed, not the President,” Almendras said.  “We had plans, we were not able to execute the plans on time,” he added.

Dr. Menchie Ambalong, the chairperson of the Mindanao Commission on Women, said electricity makes up 15 per cent of household expenses, and that the increasing cost of electricity and the intermittent brownouts will make it harder for the Philippines to attain its Millennium Development Goal to reduce the poverty incidence in the country by half by 2015.

“Do not privatize the hydro, there is no need to do so, the national government will need these [the plants] to initiate the blending program which will create a more competitive energy mix for Mindanao,” said Ricky Juliano, vice president for Mindanao of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which has 42 chamber affiliates with some 4,000 business members in Mindanao.

In Zamboanga City, Rufo Pedro Soliven, president of that city’s chamber of commerce, described the business situation as going down the drain.

Soliven said in January last year, the Mindpro Mall, which he manages, spent only P100,000 for operating cost.

“Now, for the same month this year, we scaled to 40 percent or P140,000. This does not include operating cost to fire up our gensets, repairs for machines and equipment at the store and decreased productivity input of our workers,” Soliven said.

Zamboanga City experiences a total of five hours of rotational brownouts daily.

“The very big problem is the frequent power fluctuation that resulted to the conking out of our gensets and other machines,” Soliven said.

William Lim, chief executive officer and President of Mega Sardines Corp., said frequent power fluctuations have damaged their machines, resulting in to low productivity.

Lim said they invested in Mindanao due to availability of resources and power, “but we are now strongly hit and affected by power shortage.” (Reports from Germelina Lacorte, Aquiles Z. Zonio, Orlando Dinoy, Ayan C. Mellejor, Julie S. Alipala, Inquirer Mindanao)