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LOTS of
mocking and boos.
This is
the scenario the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS)
expects at Tuesday’s much-anticipated annual
stockholders’ meeting of the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco).
And all
the heckling, according to the pension fund’s chief
legal counsel, Estrella Elamparo, is intended for their
president and general manager Winston Garcia.
In a
press briefing late Monday, Elamparo said a group of
Meralco employees approached them early Monday and
informed them of the alleged “dirty tactics” that will
be employed by the Meralco management against Garcia.
According to the informants, the utility firm asked its
head for human resources and corporate services Leonisa
de la Llana to be in charge of the bleacher activities.
“These
actions of the Meralco management are aimed at attacking
Mr. Garcia with the objective of muddling the real and
valid issues raised pertaining to the proper management
of Meralco,” Elamparo said, but added that Garcia does
not intend to be disconcerted.
“He’s
aware that he’ll be entering the lion’s den, but he’ll
definitely show up in the meeting,” she added.
Meralco
has denied the new allegations lodged by the pension
fund. “They are bordering on ridiculous because all
their allegations and issues are unfounded. Those are
all nonsense,” said Meralco spokesman Rafael Andrada by
telephone.
He even
challenged the GSIS to file a case against Meralco so
that there will be a proper venue to substantiate all
the allegations, part of which is the alleged inability
of the utility firm to show the list of proxies despite
the numerous requests made by the pension fund.
“Up to
now we have not been given the number of shares
corresponding to those proxies. And without the number
of shares, it would be impossible to make a computation
and decide on whether or not to challenge the ruling.
Meralco has our numbers ever since,” said Elamparo.
Even so,
she said, they have never thought of filing for a
temporary restraining order to stop the annual
stockholders’ meeting.
Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Villafuerte on Monday,
meanwhile, said there should be live coverage of the
stockholders’ meeting to better inform consumers of
Meralco management, which could be quite instructive for
them.
He said,
at the weekly Kapihan sa Maynila news forum, a live
coverage would be beneficial because transparency and
accountability should always be the practice.
“Why is
it that when the topic is a national issue, ABS-CBN
covers it live but when it is Meralco, they refuse to
cover it at all?” asked Villafuerte. “Bakit, ayaw
nilang mabulyiyaso ang mga nagawa nilang hindi karapat-
dapat [Why—they don’t want their improper actions
exposed]?”
Meralco
is a public utility, he noted. “The Supreme Court said
that it is imbued with public interest. And in that
sense, their officers are also public servants because
they are rendering public service.”
Villafuerte noted that “Garcia has vowed to push for a
change in Meralco’s management only. But how can you
change the management if the Lopezes hold majority?”
GSIS has
a 23-percent stake in Meralco, while the Lopez Group,
through First Philippine Holdings Corp. (FPHC), holds
33.4 percent.
Villafuerte suggested that to remove the controversy
between Meralco and Napocor on who is selling at higher
prices—Meralco’s IPPs or Napocor—there should be a flat
rate instead of the TOU (Time Of Use) pricing.
“If
Napocor implements the flat rate system, it is expected
that the generation charge of Napocor will be lower than
the Meralco IPPs. In any case, the Energy Regulatory
Board should review and evaluate the pricing of the
Meralco IPPs.”
Asked
about Meralco’s system loss being passed on to
consumers, Villafuerte, also the author of a House
resolution on affordable supply of electricity, said
consumers are not obligated to pay electricity that they
never received or enjoyed using.
“It is a
settled principle that charges cannot be imposed on
consumers without the sale of electricity actually
delivered to them,” he said.
Napocor
president Cyril del Callar’s position is that the
Meralco management system, and not the Meralco
leadership, should be changed. “What is important is the
way Meralco is run, instead of who are the managers or
the owners,” he said in Filipino.
He told
the forum he is also in favor of a flat rate instead of
the TOU pricing, thinking it better leads to efficiency
in the system.
Del
Callar slammed advertisements alleging that Napocor was
charging overly high rates to distributors. The ad said
that Meralco was buying power from Napocor at P4.76/
kWh, and from the Napocor/Wholesale Electricity Spot
Market at P6.02/kWh.
“Contrary to the figures cited in the ad, we charge a
generation rate of P3.82 per kWh in Northern Luzon,
P3.26 in Central Luzon, and P3.89 in Southern Luzon, or
an average of P3.62.”
He then
asked, “How come Meralco is not selling at those rates?
Why is it buying power during peak hours when the rates
are higher?”
Del
Callar said Napocor had reduced its generation charge by
67 centavos from January to March, but this was not yet
reflected in the Meralco bill.
He added
that the Energy and Power Industry Reform Act should be
amended so that power distributors could be regulated.
“We’re the only one being regulated. There should be
regulation of all distributors.” |
