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Power for power

SHE SAYS

Dinah S. Ventura

05/12/2008

Acouple of vacationing overseas Filipino workers were happily perusing pictures in a laptop one night last week when darkness fell around them. By the light of the computer screen, which fortunately had backup power, one could tell they were mystified at first, then flabbergasted by what they called “retro moment” — or memories of brownouts in Metro Manila, which may have been part of the reason they left in search of a better life abroad.

Recently, the scuffle between the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) and the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) has been hitting the headlines.

Mainly, the issue has centered on the call of GSIS president Winston Garcia to “change the present management” of the power distributor. He then called for accountability of the Meralco management for defrauding its clients of P30 billion, which the Supreme Court (SC) had ordered the company to refund.

It did, but Garcia stressed that management remains liable, as ruled by the SC. He then added even more pressure by saying the GSIS is considering bringing in the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) in a possible insurance fraud case against Meralco.

Of course, he insisted, there was “nothing personal” in the matter, merely that “the President is serious in this matter,” as he was quoted as saying in a news report.

The Arroyo government crackdown on Meralco began when the latter announced an adjustment in its electricity charges this month, and Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. sought an explanation, urging the Committee on Energy to investigate the reasons behind the increases.

The next thing we knew, the GSIS was disclosing plans of “filing charges of ‘large-scale’ estafa” against the Meralco management, Speaker Prospero Nograles was telling Pampanga Rep. Mikey Arroyo, House committee on energy chair, to “buckle down to work” and Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago was calling the Meralco a “hub of syndicates.”

On the surface, commented opposition’s Rep. Teddy Casino, it would seem as if Mrs. Arroyo is bent on bringing down the costs of electricity for the long-suffering public that has been besieged by price increases left and right.

Then again, he pointed out that the goal to bring down power rates for the benefit of consumers will not be achieved by attacking Meralco management, but by looking into the “onerous” supply contracts that the National Power Corp. signed with independent power producers.

Which brings us back to the 1990s, when then President Fidel Ramos did what he could to solve the power supply problem by bringing in the IPPs, some of which continue to be paid even though they are not actually producing power yet, or something to that effect. The Lopezes own and operate four IPPs, by the way.

With the heat in full blast, literally and figuratively, it is no wonder that Lopez patriarch Oscar Lopez, chairman of First Philippine Holdings, which owns a chunk of Meralco shares, has claimed he is “sick and tired” of the business, and that the Lopez family will gladly sell its shares to government, which had indicated plans of consolidating its shares in the corporation in order to gain control of management.

According to Lopez, it is not the Meralco that should be blamed for the rise in prices, but government, which had imposed the value-added tax, among other things.

Funnily enough, the words “greedy” and “accountability” and “stealing from the poor” have resurfaced once again, like the pot calling the kettle black, which renders this entire power business quite powerless in the eyes of the cynical masses.