DIE HARD III
Herman Tiu Laurel
11/29/2010
I received this text a few days ago: “Gud pm, Ka Mentong, r u aware of d SYM goin on? TY.” The text came from an old-time Edsa III Kabansang Leth (or compatriot Leth, as we call each other in the movement). I really wasn’t familiar with what SYM stood for. It was the first time I encountered it.
When Leth texted again with “Sorry Yellow Movement,” it was then that I recognized the words that I have long been hearing the past few months from many former loyal Yellow stalwarts who have finally given up believing that the Yellow legacy holds any remaining promise of change and hope for its believers and the broad masses of the people.
I discussed this on the latest episode of our radio show and I said that I had been “Sorry Yellow” long, long before — ever since the last few years of the Cory Aquino administration.
The newcomers to this “Sorry Yellow” tribe are therefore more than welcome. They can in fact be a “boon” to the nation and a tremendous help in freeing the minds of the remaining wayward souls aboard the Yellow train. After nearly 25 years of domination in the Philippine scene, the Yellow era in our politics and governance has failed miserably — nay, criminally — to bring its promise of democracy, economic development, and prosperity.
Instead, what it has given is reinforced neo-colonial chains by the plutocrats who pull the strings on corrupted national and local, election, judicial, security, defense, and other officials in a sham, make-believe democracy that nurtures and entrenches an army of career sycophants all the way to the top, so long as they pay homage to the US Ambassador, sing paeans to “foreign investors,” and genuflect before “globalization” and “privatization.”
A historical perspective to the “color revolutions” is useful at this stage. I have said that the Philippines is the political-economic laboratory of American imperialism. The US has time and again shown that it exercises in-depth mind and political control over this country very successfully.
My first impression of RP being a testing ground for US imperialist programs came from a study of the Philippines’ transition from the “Filipino First Policy” under President Carlos P. Garcia to the “decontrol” period of Diosdado Macapagal — a process imposed by the earliest “structural adjustment” programs of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which included liberalization of foreign exchange and trade controls.
In the decades that followed, “structural adjustments” became a byword in IMF-Third World relations (which is now being imposed on European countries). Also, the “Yellow Revolution” was soon followed by the “Rose” and “ Orange ” revolutions in former Eastern Bloc countries similarly destabilized by the US.
In all, crucial ideas forming the ideology of a nation’s sovereign governance changed with these color revolutions. The downgrading of the state (with its government) and the rise of the corporatocracy by the transfer of public assets to private transnational and local conglomerates (through privatization) placed the real power shift to the plutocrats.
The downgrading of productive industries also resulted as the economy was “financialized,” with the ascendancy of “shareholder value” and “capital markets” that create the “virtual” economy of financial and stock market speculation by the likes of George Soros, Warren Buffet, and the infamous Ponzi man Bernie Madoff.
All these as local oligarchs feed their respective nations to these speculators via the “debt sentence” amid booming stock markets in bankrupt economies marked by “jobless growth.” The net effect: The killing of the real, physically productive economy, with GDP and GNP indicators replacing genuine “development” in such areas as health and education.
The “Sorry Yellow Movement” must rise above personality politics and the prevailing materialistic culture into a higher plane of thinking where a moral and spiritual vision for a better country and a better life for all Filipinos and all nations is upheld. But this must also be grounded on historical empiricism, i.e. knowledge from evidence-based experience, against the quasi-occultism of the Ghost of Edsa Shrine historiography and Yellow necromancy around the death masks of its idols.
What is the better model of development in real terms (i.e. long-term vs flash in the pan), the balanced political-economy of Singapore and Malaysia as well as China ’s social-market and market-socialist system, or the ultra-capitalist system exemplified by the US? After 25- and 50-year cycles, the consistent developmental economics of China et al. outperforms the boom and bust-driven US system.
The chromatic symbolism of the Philippines must return to the multi-colors of the flag that evolved from the Katipunan’s sun and black or red background to the multi-colors of the flag of the First Republic representing the true nation-state republic that Apolinario Mabini and the other founding heroes envisioned. The yellow of royalty, theocratic power, and privilege — not to mention, cowardice — must be thrown into the dustbin of history where it belongs. The Republic represents the people; and as it is a government of, for, and by the people, it should stay that way.
The “Sorry Yellow Movement” must begin to understand these before it becomes, as some have already declared, the even sorrier “Very Sorry Yellow Movement.” And while they say goodbye to their old ways, we from the genuine mainstream of the nation of Filipinos — patriots by natural law — say “hello” to welcome them back to the fold.
(Tune in to Sulo ng Pilipino, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 6 to 7 p.m. on 1098AM; watch Politics Today with HTL, Tuesday, 8 to 9 p.m., with replay at 11 p.m., on “RP’s Home Mortgage Crisis: Ready to Explode,” on Global News Network, Destiny Cable channel 8; visit our blogs, http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com and http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com; P.S.-“10 minutes of lights out vs power plunderers,” 7 to 7:10 p.m., Monday nights)
Monday, November 29, 2010
Friday, November 26, 2010
Truth, the first casualty of war
DIE HARD III
Herman Tiu Laurel
11/26/2010
"The first casualty of war — Truth.”
At any point in history, wars are being waged on a daily basis on one level or another. This week in the Philippine and world stage, several exchanges of fire and eruptions of abnormally high intensity conflict have been reported by both the local and international media and, as expected, have led to tremendous distortion and disinformation.
As the North and South Korea conflict literally exploded just days ago, most of Western and Philippine media pinned the blame perfunctorily on “Stalinist” and “provocative” North Korea, when the fact is, South Korea fired the first artillery shot.
As an Associated Press (AP) report noted: “The skirmish began when Pyongyang warned the South to halt military drills in the area, according to South Korean officials. When Seoul refused and began firing artillery into disputed waters, albeit away from the North Korean shore, the North retaliated by bombarding the small island of Yeonpyeong, which houses South Korean military installations...”
North Korea has been accused as “provocative” and “aggressive,” as well as an “agitator” in this exchange of artillery fire. But the AP report objectively revealed that it was South Korea’s military forces that made the provocation.
This bolsters the conviction of some analysts that it is one of the US’ attempts to start a much needed war in this region to revive its economy, in line with US military-political think tank RAND Corp.’s proposal of two years now.
It is important for the Filipino nation to be informed of the facts underlying this build-up of tension in the Korean peninsula. Our countrymen shouldn’t be victimized by war-mongering Western propaganda which seeks to draw the Philippines into “their” wars. By setting the record straight, we are reminding the Filipino people that there is never any positive payback for being sucked into conflicts or wars designed for other countries’ interests.
The lesson from the WWll for the Philippines is there for all to recall: Manila became the second most devastated city in the world when General MacArthur decided to use it as a center stage for his own glorification.
The American and Western economies are now in shambles, so their ruling classes desperately need to create wars (while profiteering at the same time) to distract attention from their domestic crises and their own culpability for these.
In the Philippines, the wars of the social classes continue: The ruling class, represented by the Yellow political regime and its variations (including the Liberal, Lakas, Kampi and Nacionalista parties, the Aquinorroyo leftists and civil society, such as Etta Rosales, Karina David, et al., plus the oligarchs, ad nauseum) is constantly pitted against the people.
This week, Pag-IBIG, HUDCC, NHA and other government home financing borrowers are rising up to oppose their eviction from homes which they have been amortizing for over a decade but have had difficulty keeping up with due to loss of employment, shrinking purchasing power (with the lion’s share gobbled up by power and water overcharging), and the oppressive financial policies of financing agencies raring to turn these homes over to foreign mortgage buyers such as Deutsche Bank. And this is something that mainstream media won’t be carrying in their news.
Rising political alternatives to the dominant Yellow regimes continue to be suppressed, as with the unjust detention of Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV who embodies the hopes of millions of Filipinos. The Aquino III administration may be going through the motions of responding to the cries for justice and the early release of Trillanes, but its moves in sync with like-minded Yellow elements are making a joke of this. Make no mistake: Joker Arroyo is Yellow to the core and he opposes the amnesty for our patriotic and idealistic soldiers who stood against the Gloria Arroyo regime only to mask his own complicity in one of the darkest periods of Philippines history and an era of untold suffering for the Filipino masses.
As Joker tries to put up more legal obstacles in this Palace show, suspended lawyer Alan Paguia says: Amnesty is an unconditional, political act; it does not require any admission of guilt, and requires no apology (and certainly not to Gloria as the Joker demands).
Joker Arroyo is, among other things, a legislative enforcer of the ruling class. He gave away Meralco without any compensation to what the public paid for when the state expanded its franchise coverage by four times, and allowed the electricity consumers’ payments to pay for what the Lopezes owed the government for getting it.
It is even said that when those blessings were being bestowed, Joker’s most beloved was working as a lawyer for the other party, constantly whispering into the ears of one who would decades later utter the empty phrase, “Kung Bad Ka, Lagot Ka.”
Joker complains about Trillanes’ “mutiny” against a clearly corrupt regime, but wasn’t his Edsa I made possible by the mutiny of a segment of the military against Marcos for a shallower reason — the rivalry between Generals Ver and Ramos? The truth is indeed the first casualty of war, and more so in an information war.
(Tune in to Sulo ng Pilipino, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 6 to 7 p.m. on 1098AM; watch Politics Today with HTL, Tuesday, 8 to 9 p.m., with replay at 11 p.m., on “RP’s Home Mortgage Crisis: Ready to Explode,” on Global News Network, Destiny Cable, now Channel 8; visit our blogs, http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com and http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com)
Herman Tiu Laurel
11/26/2010
"The first casualty of war — Truth.”
At any point in history, wars are being waged on a daily basis on one level or another. This week in the Philippine and world stage, several exchanges of fire and eruptions of abnormally high intensity conflict have been reported by both the local and international media and, as expected, have led to tremendous distortion and disinformation.
As the North and South Korea conflict literally exploded just days ago, most of Western and Philippine media pinned the blame perfunctorily on “Stalinist” and “provocative” North Korea, when the fact is, South Korea fired the first artillery shot.
As an Associated Press (AP) report noted: “The skirmish began when Pyongyang warned the South to halt military drills in the area, according to South Korean officials. When Seoul refused and began firing artillery into disputed waters, albeit away from the North Korean shore, the North retaliated by bombarding the small island of Yeonpyeong, which houses South Korean military installations...”
North Korea has been accused as “provocative” and “aggressive,” as well as an “agitator” in this exchange of artillery fire. But the AP report objectively revealed that it was South Korea’s military forces that made the provocation.
This bolsters the conviction of some analysts that it is one of the US’ attempts to start a much needed war in this region to revive its economy, in line with US military-political think tank RAND Corp.’s proposal of two years now.
It is important for the Filipino nation to be informed of the facts underlying this build-up of tension in the Korean peninsula. Our countrymen shouldn’t be victimized by war-mongering Western propaganda which seeks to draw the Philippines into “their” wars. By setting the record straight, we are reminding the Filipino people that there is never any positive payback for being sucked into conflicts or wars designed for other countries’ interests.
The lesson from the WWll for the Philippines is there for all to recall: Manila became the second most devastated city in the world when General MacArthur decided to use it as a center stage for his own glorification.
The American and Western economies are now in shambles, so their ruling classes desperately need to create wars (while profiteering at the same time) to distract attention from their domestic crises and their own culpability for these.
In the Philippines, the wars of the social classes continue: The ruling class, represented by the Yellow political regime and its variations (including the Liberal, Lakas, Kampi and Nacionalista parties, the Aquinorroyo leftists and civil society, such as Etta Rosales, Karina David, et al., plus the oligarchs, ad nauseum) is constantly pitted against the people.
This week, Pag-IBIG, HUDCC, NHA and other government home financing borrowers are rising up to oppose their eviction from homes which they have been amortizing for over a decade but have had difficulty keeping up with due to loss of employment, shrinking purchasing power (with the lion’s share gobbled up by power and water overcharging), and the oppressive financial policies of financing agencies raring to turn these homes over to foreign mortgage buyers such as Deutsche Bank. And this is something that mainstream media won’t be carrying in their news.
Rising political alternatives to the dominant Yellow regimes continue to be suppressed, as with the unjust detention of Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV who embodies the hopes of millions of Filipinos. The Aquino III administration may be going through the motions of responding to the cries for justice and the early release of Trillanes, but its moves in sync with like-minded Yellow elements are making a joke of this. Make no mistake: Joker Arroyo is Yellow to the core and he opposes the amnesty for our patriotic and idealistic soldiers who stood against the Gloria Arroyo regime only to mask his own complicity in one of the darkest periods of Philippines history and an era of untold suffering for the Filipino masses.
As Joker tries to put up more legal obstacles in this Palace show, suspended lawyer Alan Paguia says: Amnesty is an unconditional, political act; it does not require any admission of guilt, and requires no apology (and certainly not to Gloria as the Joker demands).
Joker Arroyo is, among other things, a legislative enforcer of the ruling class. He gave away Meralco without any compensation to what the public paid for when the state expanded its franchise coverage by four times, and allowed the electricity consumers’ payments to pay for what the Lopezes owed the government for getting it.
It is even said that when those blessings were being bestowed, Joker’s most beloved was working as a lawyer for the other party, constantly whispering into the ears of one who would decades later utter the empty phrase, “Kung Bad Ka, Lagot Ka.”
Joker complains about Trillanes’ “mutiny” against a clearly corrupt regime, but wasn’t his Edsa I made possible by the mutiny of a segment of the military against Marcos for a shallower reason — the rivalry between Generals Ver and Ramos? The truth is indeed the first casualty of war, and more so in an information war.
(Tune in to Sulo ng Pilipino, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 6 to 7 p.m. on 1098AM; watch Politics Today with HTL, Tuesday, 8 to 9 p.m., with replay at 11 p.m., on “RP’s Home Mortgage Crisis: Ready to Explode,” on Global News Network, Destiny Cable, now Channel 8; visit our blogs, http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com and http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com)
Monday, November 22, 2010
Charge of the 'light brigades'
DIE HARD III
Herman Tiu Laurel
11/22/2010
For the past weeks, we have focused on the skyrocketing rate increases and leapfrogging net incomes of power companies. We highlighted Meralco’s 60-percent jump in profits from September last year of P7 billion to its target of P11 billion this year, which it even projects to surpass.
A week later, we zeroed in on Aboitiz Equity Venture’s 187-percent surge in net income to P16.8 billion, of which 80 percent came from its power generation ventures. This included the two power barges it bought at a huge bargain from the National Power Corp. (Napocor), which were later overpriced for Mindanao’s use and set as the basis for the island group’s new exorbitant electricity rates.
Last week, we highlighted the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (Wesm)’s petition for a rate increase for the “commodity” being auctioned through its trading floor to the power distribution networks; upon which we concluded that the profiteering “…just goes on and on, keeping our power rates the highest ever in Asia.
And yet, this week brought us a new shock report: the Lopez-owned First Gen Corp. reported a net income of $66.5 million (P2.8 billion), or P301 million in just nine months. First Gen said that its unit, Energy Development Corp. (EDC) — the Napocor geothermal company privatized under the tenure of Gloria Arroyo-appointed president Paul Aquino who then joined the privatized EDC as CEO (so much for the ethics of the Aquinos) — generated the gargantuan increase in its profits. According to First Gen president Giles Puno, “…earnings growth was delivered by EDC coming mainly from the increased contribution of the plants that it acquired last year. We are fortunate that these developments are aided by the positive sentiment and growth in our economy today.”
So, a national patrimony such as EDC, which gave us very cheap electricity, is privatized so that prices can be jacked up just to profit one family’s firm. The profit swell for the four privatized power operations here brings the additional burden on the Filipino power consumers from Luzon to Mindanao to at least P28.766 billion; and these are just four of several dozens upon dozens of privatized power companies we have counted.
This added burden to consumers would not have been there if privatization had never been inflicted on us. This is P28.766 billion less money for Filipinos who would otherwise have spent it on other needs and consumables — from food to medical care, to education and entertainment, to clothes and transportation costs, to more visits to the malls and trips to provincial relations, or a trip to the beaches to spread a little more money to the rural areas.
Privatization of power is not just sucking us dry, it is sucking us dead. How do we fight back? Let’s organize into “Light Brigades” to promote the struggle, starting with the “Lights Out” campaign to continue disseminating information.
Still, after this constant focus on the matter of our debilitating power costs, a moment of comic relief did come along. It started when a wayward cellphone rang inside the session hall of the Senate, which triggered the harangue of Miriam Defensor Santiago on the “lightweights” in Malacañang, or around what Linggoy Alcuaz calls the “happy hour kitchen Cabinet.”
Santiago does have good reason to pick up her lance and charge at the lightweights, particularly Secretary Armin Luistro, who is nothing but a factotum of the Catholic hierarchy and naturally expected to execute the agenda of the Catholic Church in a government that is supposed to be separate from any religious bias. Luistro was a key element in the mobilization against the duly-elected government of President Estrada; clearly, this Luistro is not a trustworthy individual to function for a secular, democratic state.
The only problem with Miriam’s assault on the “lightweight” brigade of the Palace is that she can also be charged for the same thing. One can only imagine what Santiago faced at that moment, paraphrasing from Tennyson, “Cellphone rings to the left of her, cellphone rings to the right of her; volleyed and thundered, stormed up with shot and shell” and so she had to sally forth too. Most of the three hundred or so of our legislators today can also be included in this category, which explains why this country continues down the crazy path of deterioration.
Neither the legislature nor Malacañang has done anything to alleviate the dire plight of the nation’s residential and industrial power consumers, making millions upon millions of us suffer along with the national economy from the highest power costs in Asia, if not the world.
Fortunately, there are hopeful signs in Congress that some individual legislators are standing up to be on the truly courageous “Light Brigade” that brings to light the prevarications of state regulatory agencies. One of them, a guest in our last GNN program, Rep. Bernadette “BH” Herrera, is standing up to the oligarchs’ predatory manipulation of water and power rates. She is ably joined by the amiable congressman from Navotas-Malabon, Toby Tiangco, who will also guest with us next. Of course, there’s our own “Light Brigade” that meets every Saturday and farms out everyday to keep the struggle going. So let us all charge forth with the light that will obliterate the power pirates’ darkness!
(Tune in to Sulo ng Pilipino, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 6 to 7 p.m. on 1098AM; watch Politics Today with HTL, Tuesday, 8 to 9 p.m., with replay at 11 p.m., on Global News Network, Destiny Cable, now Channel 8; visit our blogs, http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com and http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com)
Herman Tiu Laurel
11/22/2010
For the past weeks, we have focused on the skyrocketing rate increases and leapfrogging net incomes of power companies. We highlighted Meralco’s 60-percent jump in profits from September last year of P7 billion to its target of P11 billion this year, which it even projects to surpass.
A week later, we zeroed in on Aboitiz Equity Venture’s 187-percent surge in net income to P16.8 billion, of which 80 percent came from its power generation ventures. This included the two power barges it bought at a huge bargain from the National Power Corp. (Napocor), which were later overpriced for Mindanao’s use and set as the basis for the island group’s new exorbitant electricity rates.
Last week, we highlighted the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (Wesm)’s petition for a rate increase for the “commodity” being auctioned through its trading floor to the power distribution networks; upon which we concluded that the profiteering “…just goes on and on, keeping our power rates the highest ever in Asia.
And yet, this week brought us a new shock report: the Lopez-owned First Gen Corp. reported a net income of $66.5 million (P2.8 billion), or P301 million in just nine months. First Gen said that its unit, Energy Development Corp. (EDC) — the Napocor geothermal company privatized under the tenure of Gloria Arroyo-appointed president Paul Aquino who then joined the privatized EDC as CEO (so much for the ethics of the Aquinos) — generated the gargantuan increase in its profits. According to First Gen president Giles Puno, “…earnings growth was delivered by EDC coming mainly from the increased contribution of the plants that it acquired last year. We are fortunate that these developments are aided by the positive sentiment and growth in our economy today.”
So, a national patrimony such as EDC, which gave us very cheap electricity, is privatized so that prices can be jacked up just to profit one family’s firm. The profit swell for the four privatized power operations here brings the additional burden on the Filipino power consumers from Luzon to Mindanao to at least P28.766 billion; and these are just four of several dozens upon dozens of privatized power companies we have counted.
This added burden to consumers would not have been there if privatization had never been inflicted on us. This is P28.766 billion less money for Filipinos who would otherwise have spent it on other needs and consumables — from food to medical care, to education and entertainment, to clothes and transportation costs, to more visits to the malls and trips to provincial relations, or a trip to the beaches to spread a little more money to the rural areas.
Privatization of power is not just sucking us dry, it is sucking us dead. How do we fight back? Let’s organize into “Light Brigades” to promote the struggle, starting with the “Lights Out” campaign to continue disseminating information.
Still, after this constant focus on the matter of our debilitating power costs, a moment of comic relief did come along. It started when a wayward cellphone rang inside the session hall of the Senate, which triggered the harangue of Miriam Defensor Santiago on the “lightweights” in Malacañang, or around what Linggoy Alcuaz calls the “happy hour kitchen Cabinet.”
Santiago does have good reason to pick up her lance and charge at the lightweights, particularly Secretary Armin Luistro, who is nothing but a factotum of the Catholic hierarchy and naturally expected to execute the agenda of the Catholic Church in a government that is supposed to be separate from any religious bias. Luistro was a key element in the mobilization against the duly-elected government of President Estrada; clearly, this Luistro is not a trustworthy individual to function for a secular, democratic state.
The only problem with Miriam’s assault on the “lightweight” brigade of the Palace is that she can also be charged for the same thing. One can only imagine what Santiago faced at that moment, paraphrasing from Tennyson, “Cellphone rings to the left of her, cellphone rings to the right of her; volleyed and thundered, stormed up with shot and shell” and so she had to sally forth too. Most of the three hundred or so of our legislators today can also be included in this category, which explains why this country continues down the crazy path of deterioration.
Neither the legislature nor Malacañang has done anything to alleviate the dire plight of the nation’s residential and industrial power consumers, making millions upon millions of us suffer along with the national economy from the highest power costs in Asia, if not the world.
Fortunately, there are hopeful signs in Congress that some individual legislators are standing up to be on the truly courageous “Light Brigade” that brings to light the prevarications of state regulatory agencies. One of them, a guest in our last GNN program, Rep. Bernadette “BH” Herrera, is standing up to the oligarchs’ predatory manipulation of water and power rates. She is ably joined by the amiable congressman from Navotas-Malabon, Toby Tiangco, who will also guest with us next. Of course, there’s our own “Light Brigade” that meets every Saturday and farms out everyday to keep the struggle going. So let us all charge forth with the light that will obliterate the power pirates’ darkness!
(Tune in to Sulo ng Pilipino, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 6 to 7 p.m. on 1098AM; watch Politics Today with HTL, Tuesday, 8 to 9 p.m., with replay at 11 p.m., on Global News Network, Destiny Cable, now Channel 8; visit our blogs, http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com and http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com)
Friday, November 19, 2010
Double standard privatization
DIE HARD III
Herman Tiu Laurel
11/19/2010
Given the many issues that are basic to the well-being of the Filipino people such as electricity, water, public transport and toll ways that are not being dealt with by most columnists of mainstream media, I have made it a point to focus on them through this space. But whenever I see issues covered extensively by media being obfuscated by writers who rear their discriminatory heads, then I have to step into the fray.
The Philippine Airlines (PAL) vs PAL Employees Association (Palea) strike threat is a case in point. One the chief proponents of the privatization of state assets, economic liberalization advocate Solita Monsod, takes what I see as a double standard stand on the PAL vs Palea impasse, as she uses it as another opportunity for lambasting a favorite whipping boy of the Makati Business Club, a noisy group that shares her economic views.
That the global and local airline industry is going through precarious times is not in doubt. Monsod concedes that “the global economic crisis was in full flow in 2008 and 2009, and travel was a natural victim (with)… a 7 percent decrease in worldwide demand.” She also admits the adverse impact of new restrictions on the Philippine aviation industry by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) after our country was downgraded due to deficiencies in our Air Transportation Office (ATO) and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP).
What is not included, though, in that litany of problems besetting PAL is the flag carrier’s history of overstaffing before privatization, which previous management reorganizations constricted by government-led compromises could not optimally resolve. What PAL wouldn’t give to get the chance that other airlines such as Cebu Pacific had, which is to start from scratch — to start on the right foot.
One setback of PAL in the past three years came from losses on its hedge against aviation fuel price spikes in 2008. PAL reportedly incurred $150 to $300 million in losses when oil prices reversed and dove instead, as the global economic downturn took its toll.
Monsod and Palea keep attributing this loss only to management and says labor shouldn’t be punished for it. I don’t think PAL ever intended to take out that loss on anyone, but that hedge was a judgment call intended for the good of the company as a whole.
Fuel is obviously a fundamental cost in any airline operation. Securing oneself against fuel price spikes, which many expected at that time, was to PAL’s interest. A case can be made that fuel prices really could have gone right through the roof. If it had gone that way, all stakeholders in PAL — management, labor, and even government — would have reaped the benefit from the hedge.
Privatization was intended to pass management of the flag carrier from cumbersome state managers to private, professional managers. I have never been for privatization of state and public utility assets. I have fought it all the past decades; but the advocates of privatization should be consistent and leave private management’s prerogative alone so long as laws are strictly followed.
PAL’s spinoff of various non-core operations comes from a tenet of good business — focus. There is clearly nothing illegal in that spinoff, and the company is complying with its obligation to provide severance pay (increased to 1.25 month for every year of service), and offers new opportunities in the new spun-off companies to retrenched employees which would most likely lead to better future compensation as the companies grow with the synergy.
Those who expect the privatized company to perform like a social welfare enterprise could propose to start getting the state and government involved again. Do what the Japanese did to save their Japan Airlines (JAL). Their government pumped in 50 billion yen to turn it around, which was justified in JAL’s case as it is a government airline.
Detractors claim that the new spinoff companies are also invariably led by one relation or another of the PAL owners, but who best to invite new capital into this unattractive industry today than those who can assure new investors the good will with the core client?
PAL’s owners have actually unburdened government of a huge weight around its neck, and PAL’s privatization is the only privatization project where the public is ahead; unlike the privatization in power, water, toll ways, mass transit system and port handling. It’s a wonder why Monsod practically never critiques these other privatizations.
The recent bus transport strike in Metro Manila highlights another double standard: The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and the Department of Transportation and Communications’ view of buses as traffic jam generators, while being blind to the over a hundred thousand private cars exclusively chauffeuring students to and from school, clogging up Edsa and its tributaries.
Buses serve five times more passengers per square meter than private vehicles, having much greater positive economic and social value. Private vehicles are inefficient commuter movers; only more “sosyal.” School buses should be mandatory in Metro Manila, where a special school bus network with communication radios and trained conductors that would unclog Metro roads by over a hundred thousand cars should be established. When I proposed this to Cory Aquino’s MMDA chief Elfren Cruz in 1991, he said: “Magagalit ang mayayaman.” (The rich will get angry.)
Frankly, this crackdown on buses may have a hidden agenda — make the MRT’s new coaches (and resulting higher rates) under the multi-million public-private partnership or PPP projects more lucrative for PeNoy’s invited “investors.”
(Tune in to Sulo ng Pilipino, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 6 to 7 p.m. on 1098AM; watch Politics Today with HTL, Tuesday, 8 to 9 p.m., with replay at 11 p.m., on Global News Network, Destiny Cable, now Channel 8; visit our blogs, http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com and http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com)
Herman Tiu Laurel
11/19/2010
Given the many issues that are basic to the well-being of the Filipino people such as electricity, water, public transport and toll ways that are not being dealt with by most columnists of mainstream media, I have made it a point to focus on them through this space. But whenever I see issues covered extensively by media being obfuscated by writers who rear their discriminatory heads, then I have to step into the fray.
The Philippine Airlines (PAL) vs PAL Employees Association (Palea) strike threat is a case in point. One the chief proponents of the privatization of state assets, economic liberalization advocate Solita Monsod, takes what I see as a double standard stand on the PAL vs Palea impasse, as she uses it as another opportunity for lambasting a favorite whipping boy of the Makati Business Club, a noisy group that shares her economic views.
That the global and local airline industry is going through precarious times is not in doubt. Monsod concedes that “the global economic crisis was in full flow in 2008 and 2009, and travel was a natural victim (with)… a 7 percent decrease in worldwide demand.” She also admits the adverse impact of new restrictions on the Philippine aviation industry by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) after our country was downgraded due to deficiencies in our Air Transportation Office (ATO) and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP).
What is not included, though, in that litany of problems besetting PAL is the flag carrier’s history of overstaffing before privatization, which previous management reorganizations constricted by government-led compromises could not optimally resolve. What PAL wouldn’t give to get the chance that other airlines such as Cebu Pacific had, which is to start from scratch — to start on the right foot.
One setback of PAL in the past three years came from losses on its hedge against aviation fuel price spikes in 2008. PAL reportedly incurred $150 to $300 million in losses when oil prices reversed and dove instead, as the global economic downturn took its toll.
Monsod and Palea keep attributing this loss only to management and says labor shouldn’t be punished for it. I don’t think PAL ever intended to take out that loss on anyone, but that hedge was a judgment call intended for the good of the company as a whole.
Fuel is obviously a fundamental cost in any airline operation. Securing oneself against fuel price spikes, which many expected at that time, was to PAL’s interest. A case can be made that fuel prices really could have gone right through the roof. If it had gone that way, all stakeholders in PAL — management, labor, and even government — would have reaped the benefit from the hedge.
Privatization was intended to pass management of the flag carrier from cumbersome state managers to private, professional managers. I have never been for privatization of state and public utility assets. I have fought it all the past decades; but the advocates of privatization should be consistent and leave private management’s prerogative alone so long as laws are strictly followed.
PAL’s spinoff of various non-core operations comes from a tenet of good business — focus. There is clearly nothing illegal in that spinoff, and the company is complying with its obligation to provide severance pay (increased to 1.25 month for every year of service), and offers new opportunities in the new spun-off companies to retrenched employees which would most likely lead to better future compensation as the companies grow with the synergy.
Those who expect the privatized company to perform like a social welfare enterprise could propose to start getting the state and government involved again. Do what the Japanese did to save their Japan Airlines (JAL). Their government pumped in 50 billion yen to turn it around, which was justified in JAL’s case as it is a government airline.
Detractors claim that the new spinoff companies are also invariably led by one relation or another of the PAL owners, but who best to invite new capital into this unattractive industry today than those who can assure new investors the good will with the core client?
PAL’s owners have actually unburdened government of a huge weight around its neck, and PAL’s privatization is the only privatization project where the public is ahead; unlike the privatization in power, water, toll ways, mass transit system and port handling. It’s a wonder why Monsod practically never critiques these other privatizations.
The recent bus transport strike in Metro Manila highlights another double standard: The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and the Department of Transportation and Communications’ view of buses as traffic jam generators, while being blind to the over a hundred thousand private cars exclusively chauffeuring students to and from school, clogging up Edsa and its tributaries.
Buses serve five times more passengers per square meter than private vehicles, having much greater positive economic and social value. Private vehicles are inefficient commuter movers; only more “sosyal.” School buses should be mandatory in Metro Manila, where a special school bus network with communication radios and trained conductors that would unclog Metro roads by over a hundred thousand cars should be established. When I proposed this to Cory Aquino’s MMDA chief Elfren Cruz in 1991, he said: “Magagalit ang mayayaman.” (The rich will get angry.)
Frankly, this crackdown on buses may have a hidden agenda — make the MRT’s new coaches (and resulting higher rates) under the multi-million public-private partnership or PPP projects more lucrative for PeNoy’s invited “investors.”
(Tune in to Sulo ng Pilipino, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 6 to 7 p.m. on 1098AM; watch Politics Today with HTL, Tuesday, 8 to 9 p.m., with replay at 11 p.m., on Global News Network, Destiny Cable, now Channel 8; visit our blogs, http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com and http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com)
Monday, November 15, 2010
A growing movement
DIE HARD III
Herman Tiu Laurel
11/15/2010
Even as those photo ops between Clinton and PeNoy hit the newsstands, in aid of the massive PR spin on the US ’ support for its little puppet amid its dwindling influence in this part of the world, the conditions for creating an explosion of awareness on the true crisis in Filipinos’ lives are multiplying.
Most importantly, the middle class is now getting more and more energized in our fight against the blatant (and unprecedented) political and economic abuses in the privatized electricity, water, and infrastructure utilities of this nation.
One indication of this growing involvement is the flurry of Internet exchanges on power issues. An example is Edna’s (surname withheld) e-mail to Pete Ilagan of Nasecore (National Association of Electricity Consumers for Reforms, an anti-power plunder consumer group):
“Pete, you might want to check if ERC is actually adjusting the economic indices used in the calculation of the ARR of Meralco and other DUs under the PBR. These are the (a) Peso-US$ exchange rate, (b) Philippine CPI, and (c) US CPI. ERC is supposed to adjust them yearly.
“I am attaching a table that I made showing the forecast indices vs the actual. Note that for the Peso-US$ exchange rate, the forecasts are higher than the actual. For the US CPI, except for one year where actual was higher, the ERC forecasts were also higher than actual. If they’re not corrected, they will increase Meralco’s profit because these indices, especially the exchange rate and US CPI, are used to calculate the capex and depreciation costs, the major components of the rate base and ARR.”
If the indices used by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) are regularly higher than the actual, then it is to be expected that it will always grant its approval to higher rates for the power generation, transmission and distribution firms that petition without fail for rate increases.
Since the ERC is invariably either derelict or in collusion with those petitioners, the public will never see the light on these outrageous distortions. Citizens and consumer groups hardly have any funds, but are fueled by their indignation over this naked manipulation, abuse, and exploitation by the utility regulatory agencies in the power sector, aside from the MWSS, LWUA and the Toll Regulatory Commission in others.
Citizens themselves are funding the necessary expenses, such as lawyers’ appearances at the ERC and in the courts. One donor is a former city mayor in Metro Manila who does not want to be named.
The latest initiative is beginning to bring together a renewed focus for the different crusaders, such as EmPower, Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC), and Kaakbay, which have been at it since the start of the decade. FDC and EmPower have signified agreement to revive their own “lights out” call (switching off lights at some appointed time of the week), which were highly successful in select communities that involved hundreds of thousands of families. Even as other issues have sidetracked their campaigns, they are more than ready to reconnect with the broader effort this time around.
In December, the FDC is spearheading a nationwide summit on this crusade to be held in Baguio, as I was told by Job Bordamonte of FDC during our discussion on my TV program. I’m very excited about this and this column aims to start disseminating the information. There have been ebbs and flows in the struggle but a crescendo is building again.
Still, I got an indication of the attitude of the masses to this problem of exorbitant electricity costs. One of my former media staff, Glecy, whom I was with when she was asked about her community’s take on this issue, said, “Wala naman kaming magagawa.” (We can’t do anything about it.)
This sense of helplessness and hopelessness is what the oligarchs and their media are banking on as they continue to instill this into the masses’ subconscious through progressive impoverishment, fascist suppression of past protests (joined in by the masa), media blackout of power news through entertainment distraction, plus ERC connivance to frustrate every legitimate effort to thwart the abuse by the power oligarchs.
The critical situation prevails from RP’s north to south, and this column has tried to reflect it all. As of this writing, news of four-hour blackouts in the Visayas.
I was informed that in the Negros islands and towns such as Sipalay, four-hour power outages have become prevalent. In Mindanao, our decade-long crusader there is under threat of assassination. Yes, he fears for his life there for the exposés he has made on the IPPs’ (independent power producers) many abuses; and for this reason he has been reluctant to take a high profile in media on the issue.
I have been telling his friends that his security can only be assured when he comes out fighting a total war — including becoming an anti-power plunder celebrity. I hope he takes my advice as we are ready to help him all the way. The good thing is that he has been linking with us in the Metro Manila networks. As I said, the movement is growing again — so the masa need not feel helpless anymore. Remember: “Lights Out Mondays,” 7 to 7:10 p.m.
(Tune in to Sulo ng Pilipino, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 6 to 7 p.m. on 1098AM; watch Politics Today with HTL, Tuesday, 8 to 9 p.m., with replay at 11 p.m., on “Power Consumers’ Legislative Champions: Reps. Bernadette Herrera and Toby Tiangco,” on Global News Network, Destiny Cable Channel 21; visit our blogs, http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com and http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com)
Herman Tiu Laurel
11/15/2010
Even as those photo ops between Clinton and PeNoy hit the newsstands, in aid of the massive PR spin on the US ’ support for its little puppet amid its dwindling influence in this part of the world, the conditions for creating an explosion of awareness on the true crisis in Filipinos’ lives are multiplying.
Most importantly, the middle class is now getting more and more energized in our fight against the blatant (and unprecedented) political and economic abuses in the privatized electricity, water, and infrastructure utilities of this nation.
One indication of this growing involvement is the flurry of Internet exchanges on power issues. An example is Edna’s (surname withheld) e-mail to Pete Ilagan of Nasecore (National Association of Electricity Consumers for Reforms, an anti-power plunder consumer group):
“Pete, you might want to check if ERC is actually adjusting the economic indices used in the calculation of the ARR of Meralco and other DUs under the PBR. These are the (a) Peso-US$ exchange rate, (b) Philippine CPI, and (c) US CPI. ERC is supposed to adjust them yearly.
“I am attaching a table that I made showing the forecast indices vs the actual. Note that for the Peso-US$ exchange rate, the forecasts are higher than the actual. For the US CPI, except for one year where actual was higher, the ERC forecasts were also higher than actual. If they’re not corrected, they will increase Meralco’s profit because these indices, especially the exchange rate and US CPI, are used to calculate the capex and depreciation costs, the major components of the rate base and ARR.”
If the indices used by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) are regularly higher than the actual, then it is to be expected that it will always grant its approval to higher rates for the power generation, transmission and distribution firms that petition without fail for rate increases.
Since the ERC is invariably either derelict or in collusion with those petitioners, the public will never see the light on these outrageous distortions. Citizens and consumer groups hardly have any funds, but are fueled by their indignation over this naked manipulation, abuse, and exploitation by the utility regulatory agencies in the power sector, aside from the MWSS, LWUA and the Toll Regulatory Commission in others.
Citizens themselves are funding the necessary expenses, such as lawyers’ appearances at the ERC and in the courts. One donor is a former city mayor in Metro Manila who does not want to be named.
The latest initiative is beginning to bring together a renewed focus for the different crusaders, such as EmPower, Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC), and Kaakbay, which have been at it since the start of the decade. FDC and EmPower have signified agreement to revive their own “lights out” call (switching off lights at some appointed time of the week), which were highly successful in select communities that involved hundreds of thousands of families. Even as other issues have sidetracked their campaigns, they are more than ready to reconnect with the broader effort this time around.
In December, the FDC is spearheading a nationwide summit on this crusade to be held in Baguio, as I was told by Job Bordamonte of FDC during our discussion on my TV program. I’m very excited about this and this column aims to start disseminating the information. There have been ebbs and flows in the struggle but a crescendo is building again.
Still, I got an indication of the attitude of the masses to this problem of exorbitant electricity costs. One of my former media staff, Glecy, whom I was with when she was asked about her community’s take on this issue, said, “Wala naman kaming magagawa.” (We can’t do anything about it.)
This sense of helplessness and hopelessness is what the oligarchs and their media are banking on as they continue to instill this into the masses’ subconscious through progressive impoverishment, fascist suppression of past protests (joined in by the masa), media blackout of power news through entertainment distraction, plus ERC connivance to frustrate every legitimate effort to thwart the abuse by the power oligarchs.
The critical situation prevails from RP’s north to south, and this column has tried to reflect it all. As of this writing, news of four-hour blackouts in the Visayas.
I was informed that in the Negros islands and towns such as Sipalay, four-hour power outages have become prevalent. In Mindanao, our decade-long crusader there is under threat of assassination. Yes, he fears for his life there for the exposés he has made on the IPPs’ (independent power producers) many abuses; and for this reason he has been reluctant to take a high profile in media on the issue.
I have been telling his friends that his security can only be assured when he comes out fighting a total war — including becoming an anti-power plunder celebrity. I hope he takes my advice as we are ready to help him all the way. The good thing is that he has been linking with us in the Metro Manila networks. As I said, the movement is growing again — so the masa need not feel helpless anymore. Remember: “Lights Out Mondays,” 7 to 7:10 p.m.
(Tune in to Sulo ng Pilipino, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 6 to 7 p.m. on 1098AM; watch Politics Today with HTL, Tuesday, 8 to 9 p.m., with replay at 11 p.m., on “Power Consumers’ Legislative Champions: Reps. Bernadette Herrera and Toby Tiangco,” on Global News Network, Destiny Cable Channel 21; visit our blogs, http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com and http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com)
Friday, November 12, 2010
The sovereign, nationalist direction
DIE HARD III
Herman Tiu Laurel
11/12/2010
Much as I would like to take even a day off from the endless electricity price gouging and swindles, I am not able to. The news every day brings up new cases of the blatant defrauding of the Filipino power consumers by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), together with the big private power companies, as well as the silence of the nation’s legislature.
A few days ago, this headline came up: “Aboitiz Equity income jumps 128 percent to P5.6B in Q3.” Looking closely into the details, one reads: “The power group continued to account for the biggest chunk of the income pie with an 83 percent share, followed by the banking and food groups…”
No doubt that 83-percent increase attributed to the Aboitiz power group came from the company’s deal with the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (Psalm), wherein it got to buy the state’s power barges 117 and 118 for a third of what was declared to the ERC when it subsequently entered into a deal for those same barges to fill in for the “energy crisis” in Mindanao.
That threefold increase in valuation, which Therma Marine Inc. of the Aboitiz group submitted to the ERC, was made the basis for setting the current power rates in Mindanao, which, as we reported and powerfully expounded on the floor of Congress by a Mindanao congressman, “have virtually doubled from March to April and May this year.” It was stated further that “In 2009, we paid P49.70 per kWh/month. However, last April we paid P360 per kWh/month and P606 per kWh/month in May 2010. This had caused untold sufferings and hardships to our people in Mindanao, especially the poor.”
Those hardships and sufferings now translate to the huge, heartless, and indecent income jump of 128 percent of the Aboitiz Equity group. And yet this dwarfs what the company got in 2001.
After colluding with the Edsa II power grab of Gloria Arroyo, the Aboitiz group got the newly-installed regime to transfer P20 billion in GSIS (Government Service Insurance System) deposits in the Land Bank of the Philippines — one of our largest and most stable government banks, with over 500 ATMs to service GSIS members — to its own banking interest, Unionbank, which had only less than 50 ATMs at that time.
It was patently illegal since GSIS deposits should always be deposited in a government bank. But aside from being disadvantageous to government, it was also a disservice to the million and a half GSIS members as Unionbank was not in a position to service them efficiently — which resulted in the many years of horrendous complaints about Unionbank and its eCard system with the GSIS. Ten years have passed and despite the continuing abuses, none of these transgressions have been punished.
The abuse by the oligarchs is part and parcel of the continuing policy of liberalization and privatization of the Philippine economy. It has destroyed the public sector and dismantled public, shared ownership of the nation’s wealth and resources by transferring these only to a few — just a dozen or so — corporate oligarchs through which the Western powers plunder the nation.
The mother of all this plunder, in turn, has been the liberalization of our currency and capital regime, which is now highlighted by the ongoing collapse of globalization in the world economy via the currency war that is a-building. This, as self-respecting and self-caring nations start escalating a series of protectionist measures for their economies.
From Brazil (which has raised its tax on foreign investments in its bonds from two to four, and now six percent) to Japan (which has shocked everyone by intervening last September to weaken its yen and announcing this month that it will continue to maintain its weak yen policy), nations are opposing the US’ move to strengthen everyone else’s currency by weakening its own.
All, it seems, except for the Philippines, which is under the IMF-WB (International Monetary Fund-World Bank) stooge Cesar Purisima, who has proudly declared the dollars invested in his $1-billion bonds as tax exempt, thereby strengthening the peso and weakening the dollar, and resulting in punishing losses for our OFWs, export industries, and call centers.
The Aquino government tries to look for some silver lining, such as looking to prepay foreign loans as it takes fewer pesos to pay dollar debts; but the dark clouds are overwhelming.
As oil is already projected to rise to $100/bbl soon, since oil producing countries have set higher prices to compensate for the declining value of the dollar in which the trade is denominated; rice producing countries will certainly do the same. At the same time, without currency and trade restriction, imports from the US will rise and domestic agriculture and industries will suffer even more.
Even without the dollar devaluation, our poultries and piggeries have already been under a lot of pressure from US exports of chicken and pork parts, as our car industry has suffered from American imports. With the dollar devaluation, coupled with the elite and Filipino consumers’ penchant for imports, this will even worsen dramatically.
The only course, if this country is to survive and grow again, is the sovereign and nationalist economic direction. And this is something we hope the Aquino III regime can still learn. If not, then we can expect the pressure for an unscheduled regime change to be in the cards within a year’s time.
(Tune in to Sulo ng Pilipino, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 6 to 7 p.m. on 1098AM; watch Politics Today with HTL, Tuesday, 8 to 9 p.m., with replay at 11 p.m., on “Power Consumers’ Legislative Champions: Reps. Bernadette Herrera and Toby Tiangco,” on Global News Network, Destiny Cable Channel 21; visit our blogs, http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com and http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com)
Herman Tiu Laurel
11/12/2010
Much as I would like to take even a day off from the endless electricity price gouging and swindles, I am not able to. The news every day brings up new cases of the blatant defrauding of the Filipino power consumers by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), together with the big private power companies, as well as the silence of the nation’s legislature.
A few days ago, this headline came up: “Aboitiz Equity income jumps 128 percent to P5.6B in Q3.” Looking closely into the details, one reads: “The power group continued to account for the biggest chunk of the income pie with an 83 percent share, followed by the banking and food groups…”
No doubt that 83-percent increase attributed to the Aboitiz power group came from the company’s deal with the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (Psalm), wherein it got to buy the state’s power barges 117 and 118 for a third of what was declared to the ERC when it subsequently entered into a deal for those same barges to fill in for the “energy crisis” in Mindanao.
That threefold increase in valuation, which Therma Marine Inc. of the Aboitiz group submitted to the ERC, was made the basis for setting the current power rates in Mindanao, which, as we reported and powerfully expounded on the floor of Congress by a Mindanao congressman, “have virtually doubled from March to April and May this year.” It was stated further that “In 2009, we paid P49.70 per kWh/month. However, last April we paid P360 per kWh/month and P606 per kWh/month in May 2010. This had caused untold sufferings and hardships to our people in Mindanao, especially the poor.”
Those hardships and sufferings now translate to the huge, heartless, and indecent income jump of 128 percent of the Aboitiz Equity group. And yet this dwarfs what the company got in 2001.
After colluding with the Edsa II power grab of Gloria Arroyo, the Aboitiz group got the newly-installed regime to transfer P20 billion in GSIS (Government Service Insurance System) deposits in the Land Bank of the Philippines — one of our largest and most stable government banks, with over 500 ATMs to service GSIS members — to its own banking interest, Unionbank, which had only less than 50 ATMs at that time.
It was patently illegal since GSIS deposits should always be deposited in a government bank. But aside from being disadvantageous to government, it was also a disservice to the million and a half GSIS members as Unionbank was not in a position to service them efficiently — which resulted in the many years of horrendous complaints about Unionbank and its eCard system with the GSIS. Ten years have passed and despite the continuing abuses, none of these transgressions have been punished.
The abuse by the oligarchs is part and parcel of the continuing policy of liberalization and privatization of the Philippine economy. It has destroyed the public sector and dismantled public, shared ownership of the nation’s wealth and resources by transferring these only to a few — just a dozen or so — corporate oligarchs through which the Western powers plunder the nation.
The mother of all this plunder, in turn, has been the liberalization of our currency and capital regime, which is now highlighted by the ongoing collapse of globalization in the world economy via the currency war that is a-building. This, as self-respecting and self-caring nations start escalating a series of protectionist measures for their economies.
From Brazil (which has raised its tax on foreign investments in its bonds from two to four, and now six percent) to Japan (which has shocked everyone by intervening last September to weaken its yen and announcing this month that it will continue to maintain its weak yen policy), nations are opposing the US’ move to strengthen everyone else’s currency by weakening its own.
All, it seems, except for the Philippines, which is under the IMF-WB (International Monetary Fund-World Bank) stooge Cesar Purisima, who has proudly declared the dollars invested in his $1-billion bonds as tax exempt, thereby strengthening the peso and weakening the dollar, and resulting in punishing losses for our OFWs, export industries, and call centers.
The Aquino government tries to look for some silver lining, such as looking to prepay foreign loans as it takes fewer pesos to pay dollar debts; but the dark clouds are overwhelming.
As oil is already projected to rise to $100/bbl soon, since oil producing countries have set higher prices to compensate for the declining value of the dollar in which the trade is denominated; rice producing countries will certainly do the same. At the same time, without currency and trade restriction, imports from the US will rise and domestic agriculture and industries will suffer even more.
Even without the dollar devaluation, our poultries and piggeries have already been under a lot of pressure from US exports of chicken and pork parts, as our car industry has suffered from American imports. With the dollar devaluation, coupled with the elite and Filipino consumers’ penchant for imports, this will even worsen dramatically.
The only course, if this country is to survive and grow again, is the sovereign and nationalist economic direction. And this is something we hope the Aquino III regime can still learn. If not, then we can expect the pressure for an unscheduled regime change to be in the cards within a year’s time.
(Tune in to Sulo ng Pilipino, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 6 to 7 p.m. on 1098AM; watch Politics Today with HTL, Tuesday, 8 to 9 p.m., with replay at 11 p.m., on “Power Consumers’ Legislative Champions: Reps. Bernadette Herrera and Toby Tiangco,” on Global News Network, Destiny Cable Channel 21; visit our blogs, http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com and http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com)
Monday, November 8, 2010
After Meralco, it's Wesm's turn
DIE HARD III
Herman Tiu Laurel
11/8/2010
First it was the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco); now it’s the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (Wesm) and the National Power Corp. (Napocor); another time, it will be the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP); and then it’ll be Meralco’s turn again. The power rate gouging just goes on and on, constantly keeping our power rates the highest ever in Asia — and getting higher still!
Last week, just as torrential rains compelled authorities to release overflowing water from hydro-electric dams such as Angat, raising public expectations for a further reduction of November power rates, given this bountiful hydro power source, Meralco announces that it will raise power rates anew by 98 cents per kWh due to higher electricity prices from the Wesm. Translated, this means that virtually half of the increase (at 55 cents per kWh) from P3.68 to P4.85 per kWh will come from Meralco while the other half will be used to account for Napocor’s so-called “under-recoveries” the past months.
The Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira) requires Meralco to take at least 10 percent of its power supply from Wesm, which auctions power from all independent power producers (IPPs), supposedly to introduce competition (and lower prices). But these rates are actually manipulated by power distributors that also own IPPs. Napocor’s “under-recoveries,” on the other hand, accrued from government’s artificial intervention in times when it had to mitigate the Wesm’s overcharging by ordering temporary low rates.
The Wesm counts among its participants the IPPs and the buyers-distributors. A common sense view of power cost is that this should not be subject to volatility except for fuel and currency fluctuation, which we actually pay for with the corresponding price adjustments.
However, the Wesm bidding or auction also supposedly factors in demand and its fluctuations, a factor that is extremely vulnerable to manipulation. As demand is affected by conditions of supply, these conditions can be easily manipulated by such claims as the “breakdown” of some plants, “unscheduled maintenance” (as with Malampaya gas), “jellyfish invasions” (at Sual), and even supposed El Niño effects (that could easily be neutralized by foresight and preparation), among many others.
Moreover, the Wesm is managed by the Philippine Energy Management Corp. (Pemc) whose operations (including salaries, expenses, etc.) we, the consumers, pay for to the tune of P622.868 million in 2009 (which was still apparently not enough as the firm sought an additional P108 million late last year), and P800 million this year just for “trading” alone.
The Wesm is without a doubt the same system that California adopted, which gave way to the infamous Enron scandal. Back then, Enron executives manipulated power supply by asking power plants to shut down on various pretexts (such as breakdowns and maintenance), then jacked power prices sky high before leveraging their stocks in the market until the company’s collapse. As a result, the state of California found itself with $50 billion in losses. But then, the Enron executives were later sent to jail; while the Wesm executives here continue to hoodwink the nation.
The local Wesm has been scandal-ridden since its inception, with public investigation being called by Malacañang, the Senate, Congress, and the Pemc itself, as in the 2010 case wherein the Pemc asked the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to intervene against the Wesm based on a letter-complaint from two power utilities for “drastic price spikes” from Jan. 26 to Feb. 25 this year.
Generation prices in the Wesm, accounting for Meralco’s total 55-centavo hike in its November rate, can go as high as P19 per kWh, which is probably close to what it is today. But Meralco itself had just raised its distribution rates in the past months.
By maintaining a tacit modus operandi with the Wesm, the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (Psalm), Napocor, and the ERC to alternately petition for, approve, and implement power rate hikes, Meralco is perceived to be obfuscating the fact that its franchise area continues to have the highest power rate in Asia, by dazing and off-balancing consumers who are unable to spot a culprit — who’s none other than all of them plus the whole corrupt system, including the legislature and the judiciary, that has propped up the Epira law.
To refresh, the Belmonte Congress in April 2001, before it was set to be replaced by a newly-elected set of legislators, approved the Epira for P0.5 million (supposedly from Meralco) plus P10-million National Electrification Administration (NEA) projects per congressman. The Senate, too, allegedly concurred in exchange for favors from the energy lobby. The judiciary, for its part, has repeatedly sustained the Epira law from consumer suits; thus, ensuring its preservation. Except for Rep. Magtubo in 2001 and Reps. Toby Tiangco and Bernadette Herrera today who have spoken out against the power plunder, Congress has kept quiet the past 10 years.
The foreign interests behind the Epira should also not escape mention. They have worked through the local oligarchs and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) as the latter attached in 2001 its approval of a $950-million loan to the passage of the said law. A weak and illegal Arroyo government, as well as Congress, was naturally unable to resist the financial and political lifeline held out by the ADB.
But just what is the interest of these groups in instituting such laws and mechanisms that complete the process of privatization?
All the IPPs and distribution companies, and now the transmission grid, the NGCP (a.k.a. National “Greed” Corp. of the Philippines), are indebted to foreign financiers and have foreign partners or principals. Listing in the stock market allows these foreign financial predators to cash-in regularly on their windfall profits.
At the same time, as the nation gets deeper into debt, these vultures will gain more access and control over our strategic energy needs — which is no different from what they have done to our food, water, and health.
There is no solution except for consumers to revolt. Monday, as this column comes out, is another day to register our protest with 10 minutes of lights out against power plunder from 7 to 7:30 p.m. Let’s do this before they ultimately control our entire lives and territory.
(Tune in to Sulo ng Pilipino, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 6 to 7 p.m. on 1098AM; watch Politics Today with HTL, Tuesday, 8 to 9 p.m., with replay at 11 p.m., on Global News Network, Destiny Cable Channel 21; visit our blogs, http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com and http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com)
Herman Tiu Laurel
11/8/2010
First it was the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco); now it’s the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (Wesm) and the National Power Corp. (Napocor); another time, it will be the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP); and then it’ll be Meralco’s turn again. The power rate gouging just goes on and on, constantly keeping our power rates the highest ever in Asia — and getting higher still!
Last week, just as torrential rains compelled authorities to release overflowing water from hydro-electric dams such as Angat, raising public expectations for a further reduction of November power rates, given this bountiful hydro power source, Meralco announces that it will raise power rates anew by 98 cents per kWh due to higher electricity prices from the Wesm. Translated, this means that virtually half of the increase (at 55 cents per kWh) from P3.68 to P4.85 per kWh will come from Meralco while the other half will be used to account for Napocor’s so-called “under-recoveries” the past months.
The Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira) requires Meralco to take at least 10 percent of its power supply from Wesm, which auctions power from all independent power producers (IPPs), supposedly to introduce competition (and lower prices). But these rates are actually manipulated by power distributors that also own IPPs. Napocor’s “under-recoveries,” on the other hand, accrued from government’s artificial intervention in times when it had to mitigate the Wesm’s overcharging by ordering temporary low rates.
The Wesm counts among its participants the IPPs and the buyers-distributors. A common sense view of power cost is that this should not be subject to volatility except for fuel and currency fluctuation, which we actually pay for with the corresponding price adjustments.
However, the Wesm bidding or auction also supposedly factors in demand and its fluctuations, a factor that is extremely vulnerable to manipulation. As demand is affected by conditions of supply, these conditions can be easily manipulated by such claims as the “breakdown” of some plants, “unscheduled maintenance” (as with Malampaya gas), “jellyfish invasions” (at Sual), and even supposed El Niño effects (that could easily be neutralized by foresight and preparation), among many others.
Moreover, the Wesm is managed by the Philippine Energy Management Corp. (Pemc) whose operations (including salaries, expenses, etc.) we, the consumers, pay for to the tune of P622.868 million in 2009 (which was still apparently not enough as the firm sought an additional P108 million late last year), and P800 million this year just for “trading” alone.
The Wesm is without a doubt the same system that California adopted, which gave way to the infamous Enron scandal. Back then, Enron executives manipulated power supply by asking power plants to shut down on various pretexts (such as breakdowns and maintenance), then jacked power prices sky high before leveraging their stocks in the market until the company’s collapse. As a result, the state of California found itself with $50 billion in losses. But then, the Enron executives were later sent to jail; while the Wesm executives here continue to hoodwink the nation.
The local Wesm has been scandal-ridden since its inception, with public investigation being called by Malacañang, the Senate, Congress, and the Pemc itself, as in the 2010 case wherein the Pemc asked the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to intervene against the Wesm based on a letter-complaint from two power utilities for “drastic price spikes” from Jan. 26 to Feb. 25 this year.
Generation prices in the Wesm, accounting for Meralco’s total 55-centavo hike in its November rate, can go as high as P19 per kWh, which is probably close to what it is today. But Meralco itself had just raised its distribution rates in the past months.
By maintaining a tacit modus operandi with the Wesm, the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (Psalm), Napocor, and the ERC to alternately petition for, approve, and implement power rate hikes, Meralco is perceived to be obfuscating the fact that its franchise area continues to have the highest power rate in Asia, by dazing and off-balancing consumers who are unable to spot a culprit — who’s none other than all of them plus the whole corrupt system, including the legislature and the judiciary, that has propped up the Epira law.
To refresh, the Belmonte Congress in April 2001, before it was set to be replaced by a newly-elected set of legislators, approved the Epira for P0.5 million (supposedly from Meralco) plus P10-million National Electrification Administration (NEA) projects per congressman. The Senate, too, allegedly concurred in exchange for favors from the energy lobby. The judiciary, for its part, has repeatedly sustained the Epira law from consumer suits; thus, ensuring its preservation. Except for Rep. Magtubo in 2001 and Reps. Toby Tiangco and Bernadette Herrera today who have spoken out against the power plunder, Congress has kept quiet the past 10 years.
The foreign interests behind the Epira should also not escape mention. They have worked through the local oligarchs and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) as the latter attached in 2001 its approval of a $950-million loan to the passage of the said law. A weak and illegal Arroyo government, as well as Congress, was naturally unable to resist the financial and political lifeline held out by the ADB.
But just what is the interest of these groups in instituting such laws and mechanisms that complete the process of privatization?
All the IPPs and distribution companies, and now the transmission grid, the NGCP (a.k.a. National “Greed” Corp. of the Philippines), are indebted to foreign financiers and have foreign partners or principals. Listing in the stock market allows these foreign financial predators to cash-in regularly on their windfall profits.
At the same time, as the nation gets deeper into debt, these vultures will gain more access and control over our strategic energy needs — which is no different from what they have done to our food, water, and health.
There is no solution except for consumers to revolt. Monday, as this column comes out, is another day to register our protest with 10 minutes of lights out against power plunder from 7 to 7:30 p.m. Let’s do this before they ultimately control our entire lives and territory.
(Tune in to Sulo ng Pilipino, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 6 to 7 p.m. on 1098AM; watch Politics Today with HTL, Tuesday, 8 to 9 p.m., with replay at 11 p.m., on Global News Network, Destiny Cable Channel 21; visit our blogs, http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com and http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com)
Friday, November 5, 2010
Comedic tragedy
DIE HARD III
Herman Tiu Laurel
11/5/2010
Taking some time off writing about the widespread power plunder, I reviewed the other burning issues of the week. From the reactions of our Finance officials to the growing cries of exporters, OFW families, and the BPO (business process outsourcing) community for government intervention for the appreciating peso (and the depreciating dollar); to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) chief’s “not in our lifetime” comment on eradicating corruption; to the UP Law department versus the Supreme Court (SC) on judicial plagiarism, I only found comedies galore.
We received texts from our volunteer news monitor, Zaida, on an interview Wednesday afternoon by dzRH with National Economic Development Authority (Neda) Chief Cayetano Paderanga, which I translate to English: “Paderanga doesn’t even know a currency war is going on. He doesn’t even see the weakening of the peso! How did this guy get to be Neda chief? He doesn’t even discuss measures to defend the peso like ‘currency controls’ — so dumb.”
A week earlier, at a taping of my cable show with forensic financial auditor Hiro Vaswani, a colleague in the Kilusang Makabansang Ekonomiya (KME) narrated how after a seminar discussion, Paderanga admitted envy of the honest economic talk from nationalists like Hiro — to which Hiro responded with an admonition for Paderanga to simply shut up as he is well rewarded for prevaricating anyway.
Another comedic character is Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas deputy gov. Diwa Guinigundo who, in response to clamor from excruciatingly suffering exporters, said that the BSP would continue to abide by the “free float” of the peso based on the principle that “the exchange rate reflects market fundamentals.” This, even as the most “free market” fundamentalist of fundamentalists there is, Prof. Victor Abola, already says this about the entry of the peso into the P42 to the dollar territory: “This level of the peso is destructive.”
Simply put, Paderanga and Guinigundo’s reactions are what can be labeled in colloquial Filipino as dedma or patay malisya, i.e. playing dumb. These clowns look like Stan Laurel being bonked on the head with a chamber pot by Oliver Hardy; except that they’re not funny at all since their antics cause so much damage to the nation.
The same is true for the Joan d’ Arc of taxation, BIR Chief Kim Jacinto Henares, who charged to skewer little sidewalk bananaque vendors and jeepney drivers into the tax barbeque. Imagine her stepping up a notch or two on the antics of Aquino III’s financial clowns with a headline-grabbing statement, “Not in our lifetime,” when she referred to the eradication of corruption in her agency.
One needs to ask: Didn’t her boss campaign on that great cause of eradicating corruption, and didn’t she armor up to proclaim her crusade it? Well, it shows that their pontifications are simply laughable.
Moving on to another comedy, this time in the legal circle, we are being made witness to the bitching match between UP Law and the SC over a magistrate’s alleged plagiarism. I just wonder how this is such a big issue when both parties have already figured in greater anomalies that have shaken the nation at its core, without them atoning for their sins of commission or omission.
Remember the blatantly unconstitutional “constructive resignation” of an elected President and the suspension of the brilliant lawyer Alan Paguia for raising the incontrovertible sin of the SC’s partisan political involvement in Edsa II? One can only recall how UP Law and the others sat idly by while these injustices transpired. Can they now expect us to take them seriously, given their past intransigence and the belief of many that the alleged academic theft was committed under the nose of one who is much like his peers?
If only UP Law as well as most other law schools had shown some inclination to help in the people’s struggle, such as upholding public welfare against the privatization of public utilities and resources, and against foreign usurpation of national patrimony, then maybe we can be supportive of them. Frankly, in light of RP’s gargantuan problems, this plagiarism issue is really just a molehill blocking everyone’s view of the crucial issues.
If things continue as they are, only tragedy can befall the nation from such inanities. The failure of our respective government institutions to stabilize the peso at some balanced rate, or stem the speculative dollar inflows via fiscal and financial measures, or reject the level of institutional corruption will result in the collapse of two of the biggest earners for the country, the export and call center industry.
Our domestic economy will also be dealt with a devastating blow as OFW families that are sustaining a great part of domestic consumption will spend much less amid decreasing pesos for their remitted dollars. Corruption in the revenue agencies, meanwhile, will continue to eat into the meager earnings of hardworking entrepreneurs that are keeping the rest of the economy alive. Let’s all put a stop to this comedic tragedy before it’s too late.
(Tune in to Sulo ng Pilipino, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 6 to 7 p.m. on 1098AM; watch “Fighting Power Plunderers in the House” with Rep. Toby Tiangco, former Mayor Jun Simon, and EmPower’s Maris de la Cruz on Politics Today with HTL, Tuesday, 8 to 9 p.m., with replay at 11 p.m., on Global News Network, Destiny Cable Channel 21; visit our blogs, http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com and http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com)
Herman Tiu Laurel
11/5/2010
Taking some time off writing about the widespread power plunder, I reviewed the other burning issues of the week. From the reactions of our Finance officials to the growing cries of exporters, OFW families, and the BPO (business process outsourcing) community for government intervention for the appreciating peso (and the depreciating dollar); to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) chief’s “not in our lifetime” comment on eradicating corruption; to the UP Law department versus the Supreme Court (SC) on judicial plagiarism, I only found comedies galore.
We received texts from our volunteer news monitor, Zaida, on an interview Wednesday afternoon by dzRH with National Economic Development Authority (Neda) Chief Cayetano Paderanga, which I translate to English: “Paderanga doesn’t even know a currency war is going on. He doesn’t even see the weakening of the peso! How did this guy get to be Neda chief? He doesn’t even discuss measures to defend the peso like ‘currency controls’ — so dumb.”
A week earlier, at a taping of my cable show with forensic financial auditor Hiro Vaswani, a colleague in the Kilusang Makabansang Ekonomiya (KME) narrated how after a seminar discussion, Paderanga admitted envy of the honest economic talk from nationalists like Hiro — to which Hiro responded with an admonition for Paderanga to simply shut up as he is well rewarded for prevaricating anyway.
Another comedic character is Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas deputy gov. Diwa Guinigundo who, in response to clamor from excruciatingly suffering exporters, said that the BSP would continue to abide by the “free float” of the peso based on the principle that “the exchange rate reflects market fundamentals.” This, even as the most “free market” fundamentalist of fundamentalists there is, Prof. Victor Abola, already says this about the entry of the peso into the P42 to the dollar territory: “This level of the peso is destructive.”
Simply put, Paderanga and Guinigundo’s reactions are what can be labeled in colloquial Filipino as dedma or patay malisya, i.e. playing dumb. These clowns look like Stan Laurel being bonked on the head with a chamber pot by Oliver Hardy; except that they’re not funny at all since their antics cause so much damage to the nation.
The same is true for the Joan d’ Arc of taxation, BIR Chief Kim Jacinto Henares, who charged to skewer little sidewalk bananaque vendors and jeepney drivers into the tax barbeque. Imagine her stepping up a notch or two on the antics of Aquino III’s financial clowns with a headline-grabbing statement, “Not in our lifetime,” when she referred to the eradication of corruption in her agency.
One needs to ask: Didn’t her boss campaign on that great cause of eradicating corruption, and didn’t she armor up to proclaim her crusade it? Well, it shows that their pontifications are simply laughable.
Moving on to another comedy, this time in the legal circle, we are being made witness to the bitching match between UP Law and the SC over a magistrate’s alleged plagiarism. I just wonder how this is such a big issue when both parties have already figured in greater anomalies that have shaken the nation at its core, without them atoning for their sins of commission or omission.
Remember the blatantly unconstitutional “constructive resignation” of an elected President and the suspension of the brilliant lawyer Alan Paguia for raising the incontrovertible sin of the SC’s partisan political involvement in Edsa II? One can only recall how UP Law and the others sat idly by while these injustices transpired. Can they now expect us to take them seriously, given their past intransigence and the belief of many that the alleged academic theft was committed under the nose of one who is much like his peers?
If only UP Law as well as most other law schools had shown some inclination to help in the people’s struggle, such as upholding public welfare against the privatization of public utilities and resources, and against foreign usurpation of national patrimony, then maybe we can be supportive of them. Frankly, in light of RP’s gargantuan problems, this plagiarism issue is really just a molehill blocking everyone’s view of the crucial issues.
If things continue as they are, only tragedy can befall the nation from such inanities. The failure of our respective government institutions to stabilize the peso at some balanced rate, or stem the speculative dollar inflows via fiscal and financial measures, or reject the level of institutional corruption will result in the collapse of two of the biggest earners for the country, the export and call center industry.
Our domestic economy will also be dealt with a devastating blow as OFW families that are sustaining a great part of domestic consumption will spend much less amid decreasing pesos for their remitted dollars. Corruption in the revenue agencies, meanwhile, will continue to eat into the meager earnings of hardworking entrepreneurs that are keeping the rest of the economy alive. Let’s all put a stop to this comedic tragedy before it’s too late.
(Tune in to Sulo ng Pilipino, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 6 to 7 p.m. on 1098AM; watch “Fighting Power Plunderers in the House” with Rep. Toby Tiangco, former Mayor Jun Simon, and EmPower’s Maris de la Cruz on Politics Today with HTL, Tuesday, 8 to 9 p.m., with replay at 11 p.m., on Global News Network, Destiny Cable Channel 21; visit our blogs, http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com and http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com)
Monday, November 1, 2010
Power pirates feeling the heat
DIE HARD III
Herman Tiu Laurel
11/01/2010
The power pirates from government and the private sector are beginning to feel the heat from the people’s rage over their electricity price-gouging. They know that they have already reached the limit of the people’s tolerance of their abuse. The recent notice from the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (Psalm) of its dropping the P471-billion “universal charge” (UC), consisting of debts and contract cost recoveries of the National Power Corp. (Napocor), is the first sure sign of this.
These so-called “debts” are actually profits that the independent power producers (IPP) raked in from the onerous purchased power agreements (PPA), along with the currency and fuel supply guarantees given out to them by Cory, FVR and Gloria, as well as from the fire sale of low cost Napocor generation assets, such as the privatized hydro and geothermal plants — which could have serviced all the debts and then some if government had retained them.
Of course, we want to bring fair electricity prices to our people that are comparable to other Asian countries, where rates are only one-fourth of what Meralco charges and half of what people in our other provinces pay for. But the universal charge, if imposed, will not only add over one peso more to our already highest power rates in Asia; it will nudge us even closer to the very top worldwide.
The Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) has long called for Psalm to drop its bid before the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) of laying that P471-billion UC on our backs. It even called on government to conduct a fresh round of review (and renegotiation) of IPP contracts in order for it to rescind the onerous ones. But even as we’re all for FDC’s plea, calling for another review is really redundant and inane.
As the FDC itself is reminded, another government review some years ago already found 35 IPP contracts to be severely disadvantageous to government, which hasn’t been acted upon up to now. The issue therefore isn’t whether these should be reviewed again; but whether Aquino III will act on the conclusions of that first review by renegotiating those PPAs, and sue for damages or compensation for losses incurred by government and power consumers over the decades, including opportunity and interest costs.
The amounts which these IPPs have plundered are so staggering that an honest-to-goodness assessment would compel them to surrender their contracts and return to the state those generating assets, which they got for a song, just to save their necks. But this will require an absolutely heroic political will that is simply not forthcoming from the present dispensation.
All of us should realize that the only source of political will is the same sector that these pirates have apparently been holding by the nose — the people.
Only the power pirates’ fear of a seismic backlash from the people has made them desist (so far) from pushing through with the UC; and only that kind of a backlash to the prevailing set-up of privatized power generation, transmission, and distribution can end the continuing exponential growth of Psalm and the public’s debt.
The idea of floating a “bond” by Psalm, for instance, which is really just issuing new debt papers and creating more utang as government proposed, should be rejected vehemently as it will only worsen the debt problem even more.
The FDC, meanwhile, continues to urge government to “enforce provisions in the IPP contracts” that call for the IPPs to maintain an operational level of readiness at all times in order to prevent unplanned outages that give way to more rate increases at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market while IPPs that break down still get paid for power that they don’t produce.
One can indeed see the convoluted system, and it’s one that can’t be corrected unless the basic privatized set-up is overturned, i.e. brought back to the system before privatization.
Unfortunately, the present government cannot be expected to even imagine this as it hasn’t shown a heart for real radical change. How can it be in favor of the people when it cannot even temper rate increases in other public services, such as mass transport and toll ways?
Our only recourse then is to go back to the people and help galvanize their raging sentiments into national action.
Last Saturday morning, the anti-ERC, anti-Meralco action alliance held its first consultation. Despite only a day’s notice, a dozen attended; Pete Ilagan of Nasecore and former Mayor Jun Simon said they will attend the next meet. Of significance is the attendance of Kilusang Makabansang Ekonomiya (KME) with Jimmie Regalario and businessman Ricky Angeles. It is a group that represents at least four progressive bishops who I am told also believe in the socialization of the energy sector.
We will be inviting FDC and EmPower for the next meet, as well as others interested to help. (We’ll announce the next venue in our Friday column.)
REMEMBER: Tonight, Monday, Nov. 1, is the start of our “10 Minutes vs Power Pirates” lights out protest that will be held every Monday henceforth, from 7 to 7:10 p.m.
(Tune in to Sulo ng Pilipino, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 6 to 7 p.m. on 1098AM; watch “ERC-Meralco Victims: Gising Na!” with FDC, Jimmie Regalario, and Atty. Alan Paguia on Politics Today with HTL, Tuesday, 8 to 9 p.m., with replay at 11 p.m., on Global News Network, Destiny Cable Channel 21; visit our blogs, http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com and http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com)
Herman Tiu Laurel
11/01/2010
The power pirates from government and the private sector are beginning to feel the heat from the people’s rage over their electricity price-gouging. They know that they have already reached the limit of the people’s tolerance of their abuse. The recent notice from the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (Psalm) of its dropping the P471-billion “universal charge” (UC), consisting of debts and contract cost recoveries of the National Power Corp. (Napocor), is the first sure sign of this.
These so-called “debts” are actually profits that the independent power producers (IPP) raked in from the onerous purchased power agreements (PPA), along with the currency and fuel supply guarantees given out to them by Cory, FVR and Gloria, as well as from the fire sale of low cost Napocor generation assets, such as the privatized hydro and geothermal plants — which could have serviced all the debts and then some if government had retained them.
Of course, we want to bring fair electricity prices to our people that are comparable to other Asian countries, where rates are only one-fourth of what Meralco charges and half of what people in our other provinces pay for. But the universal charge, if imposed, will not only add over one peso more to our already highest power rates in Asia; it will nudge us even closer to the very top worldwide.
The Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) has long called for Psalm to drop its bid before the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) of laying that P471-billion UC on our backs. It even called on government to conduct a fresh round of review (and renegotiation) of IPP contracts in order for it to rescind the onerous ones. But even as we’re all for FDC’s plea, calling for another review is really redundant and inane.
As the FDC itself is reminded, another government review some years ago already found 35 IPP contracts to be severely disadvantageous to government, which hasn’t been acted upon up to now. The issue therefore isn’t whether these should be reviewed again; but whether Aquino III will act on the conclusions of that first review by renegotiating those PPAs, and sue for damages or compensation for losses incurred by government and power consumers over the decades, including opportunity and interest costs.
The amounts which these IPPs have plundered are so staggering that an honest-to-goodness assessment would compel them to surrender their contracts and return to the state those generating assets, which they got for a song, just to save their necks. But this will require an absolutely heroic political will that is simply not forthcoming from the present dispensation.
All of us should realize that the only source of political will is the same sector that these pirates have apparently been holding by the nose — the people.
Only the power pirates’ fear of a seismic backlash from the people has made them desist (so far) from pushing through with the UC; and only that kind of a backlash to the prevailing set-up of privatized power generation, transmission, and distribution can end the continuing exponential growth of Psalm and the public’s debt.
The idea of floating a “bond” by Psalm, for instance, which is really just issuing new debt papers and creating more utang as government proposed, should be rejected vehemently as it will only worsen the debt problem even more.
The FDC, meanwhile, continues to urge government to “enforce provisions in the IPP contracts” that call for the IPPs to maintain an operational level of readiness at all times in order to prevent unplanned outages that give way to more rate increases at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market while IPPs that break down still get paid for power that they don’t produce.
One can indeed see the convoluted system, and it’s one that can’t be corrected unless the basic privatized set-up is overturned, i.e. brought back to the system before privatization.
Unfortunately, the present government cannot be expected to even imagine this as it hasn’t shown a heart for real radical change. How can it be in favor of the people when it cannot even temper rate increases in other public services, such as mass transport and toll ways?
Our only recourse then is to go back to the people and help galvanize their raging sentiments into national action.
Last Saturday morning, the anti-ERC, anti-Meralco action alliance held its first consultation. Despite only a day’s notice, a dozen attended; Pete Ilagan of Nasecore and former Mayor Jun Simon said they will attend the next meet. Of significance is the attendance of Kilusang Makabansang Ekonomiya (KME) with Jimmie Regalario and businessman Ricky Angeles. It is a group that represents at least four progressive bishops who I am told also believe in the socialization of the energy sector.
We will be inviting FDC and EmPower for the next meet, as well as others interested to help. (We’ll announce the next venue in our Friday column.)
REMEMBER: Tonight, Monday, Nov. 1, is the start of our “10 Minutes vs Power Pirates” lights out protest that will be held every Monday henceforth, from 7 to 7:10 p.m.
(Tune in to Sulo ng Pilipino, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 6 to 7 p.m. on 1098AM; watch “ERC-Meralco Victims: Gising Na!” with FDC, Jimmie Regalario, and Atty. Alan Paguia on Politics Today with HTL, Tuesday, 8 to 9 p.m., with replay at 11 p.m., on Global News Network, Destiny Cable Channel 21; visit our blogs, http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com and http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com)
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