Businesses are created primarily to make money for shareholders. Whether we broadly define the purpose of a business as “serving society” or, in a narrower term, such as “meeting customer needs”, the ultimate goal is to generate wealth for investors. Sometimes, however, some companies explore ways to give back to the community or to help in nation-building. That’s when the profit motive is being subjugated by a noble intention.
San Miguel Corp.’s (SMC) plan to supply cheap power to poor provinces in Mindanao, in line with the Duterte administration’s thrust to promote regional growth, is praiseworthy. Economic progress has eluded the region because of peace-and-order problems and the lack of basic necessities. For example, only 30 percent of households in the region currently have electricity. To make matters worse, brownouts, particularly during the summer months, are prevalent.
It’s been 138 years since Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, which made our world brighter. But in conflict-torn Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), which consists of five predominantly Muslim provinces: Basilan (except Isabela City), Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, three out of 10 households do not have access to electricity. Need we wonder why our Muslim brothers in the South repeatedly lament how they are unable to feel the effects of the country’s much-touted strong economic growth? In the 21st century, a community being deprived of a basic necessity such as electricity is one too many.
According to SMC President Ramon S. Ang, the company’s power business is pursuing plans to put up a 58-megawatt coal power plant each in Tawi-Tawi, Sulu and Basilan. He said power consumers in these areas will only be charged P3 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), much cheaper than the prevailing rates. Considering that Mindanao electric cooperatives that source power from the National Power Corp. are being charged as much as P15 per kWh, the SMC plan, indeed, is good news.
The SMC president said residents in these areas will benefit from the projects, since power produced from coal plants is much cheaper than those generated by diesel-fired power facilities. However, environmentalists and health activists oppose SMC’s power projects in Muslim Mindanao on the grounds that coal is the world’s top contributor to global warming, the leading culprit for climate change. They warned against the effects that these coal-fired power plant will bring to the lives of people—from the toxic gases these plants will emit to the dangers of contamination posed by coal-combustion residues and the possible strain that operation of the plant might bring to the existing water resources.
Nevertheless, President Duterte’s strong push for Mindanao to have its own reliable power supply and the consent of local government leaders will undoubtedly stifle all the voices opposed to the construction of coal power plants in the ARMM.
Ang said the peace-and-order situation in the area does not discourage him from pursuing the planned investments. “No issue. I have no problem operating in Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, Jolo,” he said, adding that the ARMM represents one of the most underpenetrated markets in the Philippines. Hopefully, the Duterte administration’s peace initiatives and the bold investment decisions of giant companies like SMC will help unlock the economic potential of a region ripe for investments.