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THE
chief of the Senate’s economic affairs panel wants to
convert into shares of stocks the billions of pesos in
refunds owed to some 4 million customers in the Manila
Electric Co. (Meralco) expanded franchise area.
Sen.
Loren Legarda laid down the proposal Monday, saying it
could possibly end the raging rift among rival blocs of
Meralco shareholders. She added that the stock-
conversion plan, if adopted, would not just refund
customers what Meralco owes them but also empower
end-users of electricity as co-owners of the Lopez
family-controlled utility firm.
“This is
a win-win option as it will ease the pressure on
Meralco’s cashflow and at the same time formalize the
stake of the consumers in the distribution company where
they can earn dividends and be represented in the
Meralco board,” Legarda said.
The
Meralco refund-stock conversion option was made amid
speculations that efforts to patch up relations between
the Lopez family and the Arroyo administration were on
the brink of breaking down after a scheduled one-on-one
meeting of President Arroyo and Meralco’s Manolo Lopez
in Bohol this week was reportedly canceled at the last
minute.
Palace
officials explained that the President did not want any
meeting that involved just her and Meralco; instead, she
asked them to present their case to the entire Cabinet.
In a
separate interview, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino
Pimentel Jr. warned the government against riding on the
woes of complaining electricity consumers weighed down
by higher rates in order to “push a hidden political
agenda, with the owners of the Meralco as the obvious
targets.”
Pimentel
had vowed to back the government’s moves to reform the
power sector and eliminate any malpractices in the
Lopez-controlled Meralco to quickly bring down
electricity rates—but not, he said, at the expense of
undermining the independence of the ABS-CBN media
network, which is also owned by the Lopezes.
He
warned the Arroyo government against pushing ahead with
the takeover of Meralco or any other private business
“because it would scare private investors at a time when
it is trying to attract buyers for the National Power
Corp., the privatization of which is very much delayed.”
“All
these efforts to scrutinize Meralco’s operations and
correct flaws will be for naught if they will not result
in a significant decrease in power rates, especially by
ridding the monthly power bills of fraudulent or illegal
charges,” Pimentel said. For instance, he cited the case
of the cost of system losses that Meralco passes on to
its clients which should be disallowed by repealing a
provision in a law which supposedly legalizes such
unethical business practice.
But Sen.
Joker Arroyo shot down a House proposal to delete the
E-VAT on electricity charges, calling it an
ill-considered proposal. “To begin with, I fought the
E-VAT from beginning to end and even the amendments.
Now, the idea of imposing the E-VAT will mean that the
income from the E-VAT which is already factored in our
2008 budget, we will lose that, so, where will you get
the money?” |
