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THE
Joint Congressional Power Commission convenes today,
Monday, to inquire into high electricity rates. The
Senate panel is headed by Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago,
who makes no secret of her support for the Arroyo
administration, while the House panel is headed by
presidential son Pampanga Rep. Mikey Arroyo. Thus, given
the fact that the inquiry will be headed by two
proadministration legislators, the apprehension is that
it is likely to be an outright political exercise that
could end up laying the blame solely on the Lopez-owned
Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) for prevailing prohibitive
power rates.
Which,
of course, would be a pity, because, from where we
stand, if the intention is to really bring down high
power costs, then we should be looking at the entire
process, and not just at the distribution component.
That
process starts with power generation, which is the
function of the National Power Corp., or Napocor. The
state-owned firm is accused before the Office of the
Ombudsman of overpricing its coal procurement for its
various power plants. It is also facing allegations of
price manipulation in the Wholesale Electricity Spot
Market. Of late, the Energy Regulatory Commission is
also asking Napocor to explain why it has overcharged
power distributors to the tune of P10 billion since July
2006.
For its
part, Meralco stands accused of charging customers for
system losses in excess of that allowed by law. It has
also not been transparent in its dealings, according to
Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) president
Winston Garcia, who sits on the Meralco board since the
state insurance fund along with a few other
government-owned corporations now own up to a third of
the power-distribution firm. All eyes, therefore, would
be on Meralco’s annual stockholders’ meeting on May 27,
to see if GSIS would move to take management control
from the Lopez family. The prospect of a government
takeover of Meralco, however, does not sit well with
many people, who see this as inconsistent with the
government’s privatization thrust and hold that it isn’t
the government’s business to be running a business.
Meanwhile, our monthly electric bill does not only
reflect charges in power generation, transmission and
distribution, but also a hefty 12- percent value-added
tax. While the government faces a growing clamor from
various quarters to scrap, even if temporarily, the tax
on electricity consumption, it doesn’t look like it is
amenable at all to the idea.
So, when
the Joint Congressional Power Commission starts its
hearings today, we hope it is an honest-to-goodness
effort to look objectively at the situation, and seek
ways to really bring down our monthly electric bills.
It’s bad enough that the country holds the dubious
distinction of having the second-highest electricity
rates in Asia after Japan. What’s worse is to make
consumer welfare and public interest take a back seat to
partisan politics.
Peace talks in peril
DON’T
look now, but with the first batch of Malaysian
peacekeepers already gone from Mindanao, we face the
unwholesome prospect of yet another round of armed
conflict between government forces and the Moro Islamic
Liberation Front (MILF) if the impasse in the peace
negotiations drags on.
And we
face dire consequences for a resumption of armed
conflict: bloodshed on both sides, displacement of
innocent civilians and missed opportunities in economic
and social development.
The
supreme irony, of course, is that
Mindanao sits on vast natural wealth, and yet, the Muslim population
remains trapped in abject poverty. The 1996
comprehensive peace agreement between the government and
the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) gave birth to
the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, but the
promise of a better life remains just that—a promise
with no hope of immediate fulfillment.
The
GRP-MILF peace talks have bogged down on the crucial
issue of ancestral domain. The MILF wants enough
territory it can effectively administer, but the
government balks at the idea of a Bangsamoro homeland
that would clash with national sovereignty and the
territorial integrity of the republic. Result: The talks
have been deadlocked despite Malaysian brokering
efforts, with no chance that the two sides will face
each other across the negotiating table soon.
Meanwhile, the 12,000-strong MILF appears to be
consolidating its forces in various camps in central
Mindanao while a cease-fire forged in 2004 is in place.
The Malaysian-led International Monitoring Team had kept
the two sides from lunging at each other’s throats, but
with Malaysia having thrown up its hands in disgust over
the lack of progress in the peace talks, the threat of a
full-scale shooting war hangs like a dark cloud over the
whole of Mindanao.
The
problem is, the government insists on a peace agreement
within the confines of the current constitution. The way
out, according to Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr., could be a
federal system of government where Muslim Mindanao could
make its own laws and manage its own affairs. That would
require constitutional change that is viewed with much
suspicion because it could be hijacked by politicians
with hidden political agenda. But we may have to go
through the tedious political exercise if only to end
the fighting and bring lasting peace and progress to
Mindanao. |
