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SENATE
Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. on Wednesday moved
to block the administration’s plan to seize control of
the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), warning that “it is
not a good idea for government to take over private
enterprises.”
“The
government should desist from plans to control Meralco
or other private businesses,” Pimentel said, following
reports that the administration intends to use the
Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) to spearhead
the takeover plan since GSIS holds a sizeable chunk of
Meralco shares.
Pimentel
proposed that what the government should do is “use
existing laws to ensure electric rates do not skyrocket
and consumers are protected from the power company’s
greed.”
He
warned the Meralco takeover scheme of the government,
should it push through, could only trigger instability
and widespread anxiety in the business sector.
Pimentel
also voiced suspicion that the takeover of Meralco was
hatched as a retaliatory move against the Lopez family,
that also controls the ABS-CBN broadcast network, for
refusing to toe the administration line in the wake of
recent government scandals.
“The
bottom line here is that we are against the idea of the
government taking over private enterprises because it
has been shown that the government is a poor
businessman,” he said.
A
national labor group, meanwhile, demanded that Meralco
refund P9 billion in excess charges it collected from
its customers, arising from its purchase of electricity
from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market.
GO
Labor, through its president and spokesman Eleuterio
Tuazon, said that Meralco cannot allow “corporate greed”
to prevail over national interest in the face of
worsening poverty and soaring food prices in the
country.
The P9
billion would translate to a refund to Meralco customers
of 16.14 centavos per kilowatt-hour.
GO Labor
wondered why the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has
not ordered the dominant power distributor to effect the
refund.
“It is
distressing to read reports that the net settlement
surplus (NSS) of P9 billion, instead of being refunded
to Meralco customers, would be used, as per the most
recent ERC order, to offset Meralco’s generation price
adjustment of 16.62 centavos implemented last month,”
said Tuazon.
The
labor group lamented that even as Meralco has refused to
refund its customers, it has even increased electricity
rates by citing as an excuse the allegedly higher cost
of purchasing the electricity it distributes from the
WESM and the National Power Corp.
GO Labor
said Meralco may be putting down the WESM and Napocor to
justify buying power from its affiliated independent
power producers like First Gas, Santa Rita and San
Lorenzo. |
