Solon blames firm for brownouts

ROMBLON Rep. Eleandro Jesus Madrona has lashed out against DMCI Holdings Inc., one of the country’s biggest business conglomerates involved in construction, real estate and power, for its “selfish and immoral” actions in blocking the power supply of his island district.

In a letter to Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla, Madrona said 200,000 residents of Tablas Island were suffering from up to five-hour brownouts daily—all because DMCI lost in a 2013 bidding to supply power to the island and had gone out of its way to block Tablas Island Electric Cooperative Inc. (Tielco) and the winning bidder, Sunwest Water Electrics Co. (Suweco), to run the diesel-powered generator sets in place in the area.

In a statement, DMCI said it was not opposing the project but acknowledged that it was questioning the legality of the awarding process.

The lawmaker accused DMCI of “forum shopping” by going to both the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Energy Regulatory Commission to block the Tielco-Suweco project “using the same issues and arguments over and over again.”

“The reality is, it (DMCI) lost in the competitive selection process that Tielco has conducted and which has been confirmed by your department (DOE) that Suweco won the same,” Madrona said.

He also noted that the DOE had already endorsed the project after both Tielco and Suweco complied with the department’s requirements. “For DMCI Power to categorically state that the issuance of the same is ‘fraught with anomalies and illegalities’ is an insult to your department in the highest degree,” he said.

DMCI statement

DMCI said: “There have been material deviations from the original terms, which, if allowed to push through, will result in higher electricity rates for the people of Tablas, Romblon. Electricity consumers in the area will be paying 51 percent more because of these deviations. The bid rate of Suweco was P11.2295/kilowatt-hour but the first supplemental agreement was P16.93/kWh.”

“We also believe that the awarding process is illegal because the Supreme Court has ruled that a contract entirely different from the contract bid should be struck down in its entirety for violation of public policy on public bidding. These issues have an impact on the integrity of the bidding process and the welfare of Filipino consumers, and we look forward to its fair, transparent and legal resolution,” the company added.

Even so, Madrona said DMCI had “selfish and immoral motives” in stopping the project at the expense of his constituents. He said he could not understand why the company was “overzealous” in blocking the Tablas project when it also undertook the same business model in its Masbate and Palawan projects.

The congressman, however, noted that DMCI had failed to deliver its obligations in Palawan, which has been suffering up to four-hour daily brownouts.

He said DMCI had been involved in several scandals such as the Semirara landslide, the Torre de Manila condominium, which “photobombed” the Rizal shrine, and the leaking roofs of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport I, which it was contracted to renovate.