Power struggles

DIE HARD III
Herman Tiu Laurel
9/24/2007



All parties to the ZTE (NBN) struggle are protecting self-serving interests and skin: JdV or GMA, the Reds ( China) or Whites (U.S.) The interest of the eighty-seven million citizens of this Republic is left out by the process that will invariably end up in horse-trading; but it laid bare the corruption of the present system and the ruling establishment, purging any notion that Edsa Uno (whence Abalos came) and Dos (the triumph of Gloria and “civil society”) brought any good. It drives home the point that the “Last Revolution” is desperately needed, the call of the young military officers that maintain the website “Sundalong Tagapagtanggol”.

There is no recruitment of “destabilizers”, as Mrs. Pong Querubin said. The scare mongering is just Esperon’s fund raising. The true destabilize is the corruption and economic deterioration everyone sees, and wrongly accused young officers are the “mistahs” that maintain their idealism and vision. The corrupted old “mistahs” add insult to injury when they tout the PMA Honor Code to cover up their treason. Mendoza’s “I’m all right?” to queries demean them in the public’s eye as the loss of the Philippine and Chinese copies of the ZTE contracts just doesn’t make sense: why would the Chinese leave their copy with Filipino officials?

The “new” ZTE contracts were not from photocopy or scanned copies but from a computer file that could have easily been “sanitized”; the meeting at Wack-Wack was FG’s instruction to Mendoza, not an accidental meeting. Mendoza lied though his teeth. Other Arroyo defenders rushed in: Enrile protested Nene Pimentel’s “ambush” on Gloria’s cabinet, reminding me of Enrile’s 1971 “self-ambush” to justify martial rule which he confessed in 1986. Enrile’s prevarications continue, such as the false claim that an “open access” amendment to EPIRA will reduce electricity rates –bullshit, he’s using it to distract consumers and exporters crying out against murderous power rates.

At the root of the electricity problem is the EPIRA: its privatization of public utilities, rate mechanisms, sovereign guarantee burdening us with $ 11-B debt we pay through 2010 and pushing rates up to P 13/kWh – plus the RVAT Joker Arroyo and Teddy Boy Locsin put in. It promised competition but really raised rates from P 5/kwh in 2001 to average of P 10/kWh today. Using Epira’s liberalization Meralco finaggles ERC to change the profit setting mechanism from the RORB to the PBR (performance based rate setting) raising Meralco’s allowable maximum profit from 12% to a mandatory minimum profit of 16% - anything lower and its our obligation to raise it to 16%!

Meralco rates are Asia’s highest, as Freedom from Debt Coalition shows: industrial rates – Korea, $ 0.051/kWh; Japan,; Philippines (Meralco) highest, $ 0.128/kWh; Philippine residential rates $ 0.102/kWh, third highest $ 0.174/kWh as Korea is $0.19 and Japan is $ 0.18/kWh. But Japan and Korea’s Purchase Power Parity (ppp) is eight and five times higher, which really makes overall Philippine rates the highest in Asia. Other Asean industrial/residential rates: Hong Kong $ 0.139/$0.139; Singapore, $0.066/$ 0.13/$; Malaysia, $ 0.039/$ 0.085; Thailand, $ 0.032/$ 0.089; Vietnam $ 0.027/ $ 0.077; China $ 0.061/ $ 0.066; Indonesia, $ 0.015/ $ 0.041. Our power rates are up to twenty times higher!

That Malaysia, Indonesia and others have oil is no reason – we have Malampaya, but in other countries the fossil fuel and almost all power companies are mainly state owned. Here, the Royal-Dutch manipulated the gas selling price and used Epira to set up the gas fired IPPs with the Lopezes. Meralco control of the ERC also allows it higher rates than other domestic utilities: Distribution, supply and metering charges of Meralco are higher despite proximity of customers in the highly urbanized areas that comprise its franchise area follos respectively: (per kWh at 401 kWh)– Meralco, P 1.6615, P0.5271 and P 0.2435; VECO (Cebu) – P 1.0773, P 0.2712, P 0.1924; DPLC (Davao) p P 1.2409, zero, P 0.2249.

Meralco and other private power companies persistently lie, this was shown in the last senate hearing: Meralco IPPs – P4.72/kWh, NPC – P5.11/kWh but this was the peak rate and not the average of the peak and non-peak rates. The Wholesale Spot Market rate which the Philippine Electricity Market Corporation promised would ensure competition and lower rates showed this rate: WESM – P5.13/kWh. It was the highest generation rate, then you add on Meralco’s exorbitant distribution rate which pushes it to P 10/kWh or thereabouts. The WESM, PEMC and its board composed of power company cronies like Holopainen (Aboitiz boy), et al, is just another layer of parasites feeding on our electricity payments.

The ZTE gave a black eye to the Red tean (China) and a point for the Whites (U.S.); but the biggest loser is always this country as the referee (Gloria and company) is in their pocket. The biggest winner is still the White team which is getting, by our estimate, over $ 30-B in the ten years of Epira (after already deducting Mirant’s $ 10-B). The ZTE’s $ 350-B is chicken feed. The fattened corrupt referees have to be changed if the game is to benefit the people. The Freedom from Debt Coalition, Nasecore, Sulo and may others are now forging a new power reform coalition to defeat power piracy of all forms in this country. This is the real power struggle. Join us.

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