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When you
get your electric bill for this month, be prepared to
pay more for your power consumption. That’s because,
Meralco tells us, prices from the Wholesale Electricity
Spot Market, its chief source of electricity, shot up by
P4.7466 per kilowatt hour (kWh) in March 2008 to
P10.6822 per kWh from P5.9356 per kWh in February.
Thus,
residential customers consuming 200 kWh per month will
see their bills increase by 8.95 percent or by P149 this
month; those who use 100 kWh per month will pay P61
more, while those consuming only 50 kWh a month will
have to cough up an additional P19. Meralco maintains it
will not benefit from the cost adjustments, as these
will only “pass through” them and go to their power
suppliers.
With
power costs going through the roof, the question
uppermost in the minds of many is: Can we expect any
relief from the second-highest electricity rate in Asia?
Answer:
No, with the way things are going.
But the
grim situation could change for the better if the
government acts soon enough and implements open access
that will lead to real competition that will, in turn,
result in lower power rates.
The
Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001, or Epira,
provides a framework for the restructuring of the
country’s electric-power industry, including the
privatization of the assets of the state-owned National
Power Corp. (Napocor). It seeks to promote a level
playing field, attract more investors to build new
capacity and encourage competition to make power rates
competitive over time.
Open
access as provided for by the Epira will allow private
energy providers to offer competitive rates while
electricity consumers can now choose cheaper electricity
rates. Under an atmosphere of competition, consumers can
purchase electricity being offered by the lowest
bidder/seller. But open access may be implemented only
after 70 percent of Napocor’s power plants have been
privatized. After all, Napocor remains the dominant
player in the market and can still control the cost of
electricity in the market.
The
Epira has been in place for more than six years, and
yet, retail competition and open access have not been
achieved because more than 80 percent of the country’s
generating capacity still remains with Napocor. What
needs to be done is to accelerate the implementation of
the law, so that electricity consumers can get a respite
from high power rates even as they must also cope with
higher prices of food and fuel.
Saving
Laguna de Bay
This is
something that’s long been overdue.
We’re
talking of the dismantling of illegal fish pens and fish
cages in Laguna de Bay, which was done yesterday by the
Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) on orders of
Environment Secretary Lito Atienza. A multiagency task
force consisting of personnel from the LLDA, the
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR),
the Department of Public Works and Highways and the
Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, as
well as the Philippine National Police carried out the
demolition of the illegal structures.
We
simply cannot understand why the LLDA allowed the
proliferation of illegal fish pens and fish cages in the
lake over the years, which has been blamed for the
deterioration of this economically important body of
water.
In fact,
experts had considered the lake nearly biologically dead
precisely because of the illegal construction of the
fish pens, which occupied more than one-half of the
90,000-hectare water body.
Atienza
justified the order to demolish the illegal structures
thus: “The fish pens are already choking the lake to
death. They obstruct the flow of water and block the
passageways of small fishermen. Worse, the chemical
content of the feeds being given the fishes being raised
there has considerably polluted its waters. . . .
Demolish the fish pens or allow the lake to perish.
These are the only choices left to us to save Laguna de
Bay,” he said. “Our choice is clear: we must save the
lake. The fishpens must go.”
It is
good that the DENR has moved decisively to protect the
country’s few remaining freshwater resources. Laguna de
Bay used to teem with freshwater fishes such as tilapia
and
bangus and contributed to the country’s annual fish
production. To avert an environmental disaster and save
the lake, the DENR had no choice but to dismantle the
fish pens.
The
country’s commemoration of International Earth Day on
Tuesday had for its theme, “Ang Tubig ay Yaman ng Buhay.”
And there couldn’t have been a more appropriate move in
realizing this theme than for the government to demolish
the illegal fish pens in Laguna de Bay. The DENR
deserves credit for taking this bold step, which will
undoubtedly benefit the communities that depend on the
lake for sustenance.
E-mail: ernhil@yahoo.com |
