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HOPING
to stall the privatization of the government-run power
-lines subsidiary, the People Opposed to Warrantless
Electricity Rates (Power) and the Bagong Alyansang
Makabayan on Monday expressed opposition to the schedule
bidding of the 25-year concession of the National
Transmission Corp. (Transco).
They
described the bidding as “another tainted privatization
deal brought to us by Malacañang, at great cost to the
consumers.”
Power
and Bayan noted that Sens. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. and
Jamby Madrigal exposed an alleged conflict of interest
in the sale of Transco, because Public Sector Assets and
Liabilities Management Corp. (Psalm) president Jose
Ibazeta is a former business associate of a bidder in
the Transco sale, ports magnate Enrique Razon Jr.
“This is
yet another tainted privatization deal and is really
outrageous. Privatizing Transco is bad enough, but if
there are allegations of a rigged bidding process, then
that is even worse,” said Power convenor Prof. Gani
Tapang.
He noted
that Transco is the crown jewel of the power industry,
and it provides a highway for electricity and other
uses, adding that whoever controls it can impose a “toll
fee” on users of this highway. “In the hands of private
interests, there is always the potential for abuse in
the name of greater profits,” Tapang said.
Ibazeta
responded to public allegations of bidder La Costa
Consortium, which was earlier disqualified in the
prequalification for the bidding for the Transco
business.
“Based
on news reports, a case is now pending in court
questioning the prequalification proceedings. We are
therefore bound by the sub judice rule not to comment on
the merits of our position. It is regrettable that Psalm
has been attacked in the media for a matter which has
already been addressed to the courts. But no amount of
public statements can change the fact that an entity
which fails to comply with clear criteria must be
disqualified,” said Ibazeta.
The
Psalm official added the proceedings were
aboveboard—bidding procedures were clear made known to
all the prospective bidders and applied equally to all
of them.
The
procedures even gave bidders an opportunity to seek
reconsideration of any decision on prequalification, to
ensure there is no abuse of discretion in Psalm’s
evaluation of the bidders’ submissions.”
At the
prequalification stage, according to Ibazeta, the
bidders’ documents are evaluated by technical working
groups, whose assessment is reevaluated by a review
committee.
The
review committee makes a recommendation to the Psalm
board: the secretaries of finance, energy, trade and
industry, budget management and socioeconomic planning.
“Only
those who passed the prequalification criteria were
allowed to proceed with the bidding process, which is
not favoring any party; this is merely complying with
the strict requirements for the Transco operator as
stated in the bidding procedures and the Electric Power
Industry Reform Act.
The
Psalm board makes the final decision; no single person
dictates or controls the decision on prequalification,”
Ibazeta said.
He added
that they owe it to the Filipino people to ensure that
whoever operates Transco has the financial ability to
maintain and expand its facilities.
Meanwhile, Bayan secretary-general Renato Reyes Jr. said
consumers will bear the effects of the privatization of
Transco, as winning bidders will surely wish to recover
their investments in the shortest possible time.
“Transco
should remain state-owned because it has strategic
importance for the economy. The argument that the
government needs to sell Transco in order to raise funds
for debt payments is a grossly myopic view of the
problem and will lead to a bigger burden for consumers,”
Reyes said.
JCPC
summons Teves, Ibazeta
THE
Joint Congressional Power Commission (JCPC) has summoned
Finance Secretary Margarito Teves to appear before the
Senate-House panel at its next meeting on December 13 to
explain why he should not be cited for contempt for
approving the sale of government’s prime shares in the
Phil. National Oil. Co.-Energy Development Corp. (PNOC-EDC)
despite strong objections by the JCPC.
Senator
Miriam Santiago, JCPC cochairman, confirmed that the
PowerCom also summoned Power Sector Assets and
Liabilities Management Corp. (Psalm) president Jose
Ibazeta to appear on the same day to clarify charges of
conflict of interest in a separate bidding for the
lucrative 25-year concession to run the National
Transmission Co. (Transco) due to Ibazeta’s connection
with one of the bidders.
“The
first one [to be called to appear before the PowerCom]
is Finance Secretary Teves, as chairman of the
privatization council which approved the sale of the EDC
without notice to the JCPC,” she told reporters Monday.
She pointed out that the Epira law provides that to
privatize the government corporation “we should sell the
generating plants packaged to the steam sales agreement.
This methodology was prescribed by the Epira law. Now
we hear that the privatization council [chaired by Teves]
has approved of the sale by a means other than that
provided by law.”
“We had
asked Secretary Teves to make an urgent appearance and
give an explanation,” she added.
Santiago
said that next to be called right after Teves testifies
is Mr. Ibazeta to clarify the charge of conflict of
interest due to his past association with businessman
Enrique Razon Jr., whose company is also bidding for the
Transco concession.
But
Santiago explained the conflict of interest charge aired
against Ibazeta by Senate Minority Leader Aquilino
Pimentel and Consuelo Madrigal may not hold water if
Ibazeta is able to sufficiently show that he has
divested himself of any interests in Razon’s company.
“There
is a violation of law when the person who is supposed to
sign or approve the contract is himself, or through a
board, group, or a panel of the government, might have a
financial, material, or pecuniary interest [in the
contract],” she said. “In this case, the allegation is
that the president of PSALM, a government agency, was a
former member of the board of directors of several
companies owned by Mr. Enrique Razon, who is part owner
of a company which is one of the qualified bidders.”
(B. Fernandez) |
