A nation dumbed down?

DIE HARD III

Herman Tiu Laurel

6/17/2011

Over the past week, a systematic campaign of misinformation was waged with only a few, if any, noticing it.  This involved the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC)’s decision on the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) petition for its Performance Based Regulation (PBR) rate from this year up to 2014.  Reports in almost all newspapers claim the ERC denied the increase and even reduced the rate with a lowered PBR, when the truth is, it’s just a collusion between the two that engaged in a gigantic sleight-of-hand to hoodwink the millions of Meralco consumers and the public.

 

During the first week of June, the ERC announced its denial of Meralco’s 2011 PBR application of P1.70/kWh, setting it at P1.58/kWh which it boasts to be lower than the 2010 PBR of P1.65/kWh.  It looks very nice at first until one takes a comprehensive look at the original Return-on-Rate Base (RoRB) formula, where 12 percent is already the maximum allowable profit, and the rate then was only P0.70/kWh.  Given this, plus the fact that the PBR rate now stands at 15.8 percent, the new rate has in fact more than doubled.

 

But that’s only half the story: Senior consumer advocate Genaro “Naro” Lualhati (who was among those who won our first Meralco refund of P30 billion) has investigated the cost computations of Meralco for its capital expenditures (capex) and found these to be bloated by 37 times.  His findings are corroborated by Jojo Borja, who has produced documents showing the massive overpricing and transfer pricing of Meralco’s power generation equipments, which have been presented before ERC hearings but are not reflected in the final determination of PBR rates.

 

Naro Lualhati’s own computation shows that the proper Meralco rate for this period should only be at a maximum of P0.90/kWh.  Meralco has thus been putting out its song-and-dance about how it needs to tighten its belt due to the ERC’s supposed “reduction,” with mainstream media pandering this distorted story to dumb down the public, when the truth is, it’s just continuing with what many see as its power plunder of the people.

 

On another matter, the Stradcom deal that’s bedeviling the BSA III administration and inflicting its damage on public coffers and the transport regulatory system, we have here a perfect example of the idiocy of subcontracting such essential government functions to greedy private corporations.

 

The computerization of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) records is no rocket science and does not require a complicated system.  Why then is government shelling out P140 million a month for this?  It’s been going on for several years now that the two factions of this firm are fighting over the earnings that have reached staggering billions, thus getting BSA III embroiled in its dirty quagmire.

 

Despite Teddy Locsin and Conrado de Quiros’ avowals about BSA III’s personal “honesty,” he is increasingly being seen as drenched in the corruption all around him, not to mention the corruption of his kin that even stoops to collecting illegal toll fees on public roads.

 

What the public isn’t being told is that this subcontracting of LTO’s computerization should never have happened--in the same way that other similar projects, such as the one entered into by the GSIS, which has since experienced endless glitches, shouldn’t have happened.

 

Information systems of government are crucial to national security and, as in the Stradcom case, private subcontractors only take liberties with the information they gather.

 

The basic outrage in all this, however, lies in the huge amounts paid to the private subcontractors that further deplete the national coffers and the public’s purse.  I’m sure that when the public learns about Stradcom getting twice as more than the LTO from our payments, the outrage will be even more.  It is no surprise, too, that political strings were pulled for the awarding of this contract, such as that of a religious denomination linked to a faction of Stradcom that sells its block votes every time.  Why do we allow this to happen?

 

Now comes this harebrained idea from a Gloria Arroyo special economic adviser whose advice led to the spike in Philippine hunger from 2003 to the present.  Even though Albay Governor Joey Salceda has earned political brownie points grandstanding on the Spratlys issue by calling for a boycott of China-made products, a credible economist this one-time gofer of the securities section of an international bank (the same job that Nick Leeson had when he collapsed Barings Bank) he can never be.

 

For one, even as Salceda cites RP’s trade deficit of $1 billion with China in 2010, he forgets that, since trade seesaws, it was a surplus of $750 million in 2005.  In addition, with the increasing mineral demand of China , this balance will tilt in favor of the Philippines again.

 

Imagine the massive upward inflationary push when Chinese products--from DVD players to garlic--stop flowing.  Now, if the Philippines were to subsidize its agro-industrial entrepreneurs again, we just might have a fighting chance.  But with Salceda’s allegiance to globalization, coupled with a boycott, our economy is sure to be doomed.

 

A balanced view of the Spratlys issue comes from Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV who, over merienda with two ambassadors, opined that there are “hawks” as well as “doves” in the Chinese government and that one must deal with the controversies, while asserting the Philippines ’ rights vigorously, with this in mind.

 

I added that while there is psychological warfare underway (as Vietnam is rumored to be calling for its citizens to prepare for war), there are sufficient formal agreements on the negotiated settlement of issues and sharing of resources to ensure an amicable conclusion in the coming times.

 

As for Salceda’s boycott proposal, why is it that we never heard him support the “Buy Filipino” call we’ve issued the past two decades?

 

(Tune in to Radyo OpinYon, Monday to Friday, 5 to 6 p.m., and Sulo ng Pilipino, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 6 to 7 p.m. on 1098AM; Talk News TV with HTL, Tuesday, 8 to 9 p.m., with replay at 11 p.m., on GNN, Destiny Cable Channel 8, on “GSIS Union’s Victory vs. Winton’s Outrages”; visit http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com and http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com for our articles plus TV and radio archives)