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Palace told to lay off Meralco takeover

By Angie M. Rosales

05/01/2008

Malacañang was yesterday warned by a senator to go slow on the idea of the takeover of private companies as it can only trigger instability and widespread restiveness within the business community in the country.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. yesterday issued the warning to the Executive in the light of talks on government’s alleged plan to gain control of the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), purportedly to help protect consumers from the imposition of exorbitant electricity rates.

“There are ways of protecting the people against paying increased electric rates, one of which is through employing the regulatory power of Napocor (National Power Corp.) in the Epira (Electric Power Industry Reform Act),” he said in an interview with reporters.

Apparently, Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, according to Pimentel, has already drafted proposals seeking to strengthen the Epira in the hope of addressing consumers’ concerns vis-à-vis continued rise in power rates.

“We should consider these things rather than take over these companies,” he said.

The Senate’s opposition leader, however, suspects that the reported planned takeover of Meralco is yet another political tactic, a retaliatory move against the Lopez family, which also controls the ABS-CBN broadcast media network.

It is seen as one way to restrain the giant network from portraying Mrs. Arroyo in a negative light.

“The bottom line here is that we are against the idea of government taking over private enterprises because it has been shown that government is a poor businessman, the implication of which, especially those who refuse to toe the line of the administration, could be the next target of this government, for authorities to be able to gain control of them,” Pimentel said.

The senator, in blocking the plan to seize control of Meralco, also pointed out that it is not a sound idea for the government to take over private enterprises by using Government Service Insurance System funds, since the state insurance firm holds a sizeable chunk of Meralco shares.

Pimentel proposed that which the Arroyo government should do is to use existing laws to ensure electric rates do not skyrocket and consumers are protected from power firms’ greed.

He warned that the Meralco take over scheme of the government, should it push through, could only trigger instability and widespread anxiety in the business sector.