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In
accompanying the President to Malaysia and Australia,
Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes will have hopefully
learned more about his job. Reyes’ marching order from
day one (read: August 1) is to provide consumers, not
just business, with cheap electricity.
Crucial
to lower rates, of course, is increased competition. To
date, National Power Corp. has privatized only 30
percent of its power capacity.
Reyes
has yet to make his stand on two major issues.
One is
the use of compressed natural gas (CNG), a bridge fuel
between existing fossil fuels and renewable and
ecofriendly fuels such as solar and wind. Clearly, the
increased usage of CNG requires political will.
Two is
the proposed amendments in the 2001 Electric Power
Industry Reform Act, particularly the provisions on
cross-ownership. For example, what happens if Mirant and
Korea Electric, the country’s two major independent
power producers, buy shares in each other’s companies?
****
Did you
know 1:
For a foreign executive of an Alabang-based
business-process outsourcing company, spending too much
time in the washroom and on coffee breaks were enough
reasons for immediate dismissal.
Involved
were four team leaders, who had been with the company
for more than a year and had regular work status.
Did you
know 2:
Some nursing graduates are leaving this month for the
United Kingdom under a new student work-placement
scheme.
Basically, the global program being piloted in the
Philippines will enable nurses to go back to school in
the
UK.
After two years (the cost of which will be undertaken by
a future client), the nurse will have completed a BS
Health and Social Care (on top of her/his nursing
degree) and will have an assured job as a senior
caretaker.
****
The
holes in the bilateral Philippine-South Korean
Employment Permit System (EPS) are increasing.
The
latest horror story involves 30 workers who applied for
work at the Cebu office of the Philippine Overseas
Employment Administration (POEA). After taking the
required language program costing between P8,000 and
P12,000, the workers had to take a Korean Language Test.
The POEA-Cebu issued the workers the necessary orders to
pay at a nearby branch of Land Bank of the Philippines.
After each paying P1,500, the workers were then told
they couldn’t take the language test after all on the
date set because the POEA had “overregistered” the
number of EPS workers.
To, um,
make the workers feel better, POEA then said refunds
will be made only at the head office in
Manila.
As
everybody knows, the EPS was considered a solution to
illegal workers in South Korea. Under the agreement, the
Korean chamber for small businesses regularly submit
their requirements for foreign workers to the POEA. The
POEA, in turn, then worked out the details with about
six accredited recruitment agencies.
Interestingly, the EPS is said to be deliberately
30-percent overbooked, just in case some of the approved
workers, um, do not show up.
By the
way, for those who want a shortcut into the list, the
ongoing fixer’s rate is said to be P100,000. |
