MANILA, Philippines – Following suggestions of granting him emergency powers to avert a possible power crisis, President Benigno Aquino III clarified he never asked for them and said that as it stands, he already has the power to take over certain industries.
In other words, he doesn’t need the extra powers.
“I just want to emphasize I never asked for it. It was proposed by certain members, I understand, by Congress. I never asked for the emergency powers,” Aquino told reporters on Tuesday, January 14.
The proposal to grant Aquino emergency powers first surfaced after the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) raised the possibility of rotating blackouts, following the rise in power rates. Eastern Samar Rep and Aquino’s ally Ben Evardone suggested it, while Sen Antonio Trillanes filed a bill also on Tuesday seeking emergency powers for the President.
Emergency powers would permit Aquino to enter into negotiated contracts for the construction, repair, rehabilitation, improvement and maintenance of power plants to avert a power crisis.
But Aquino said “the Constitution already empowers the executive” in times of emergency, “to temporarily direct the operation of any privately owned public utility or businesses affected with public interest” as specified under Article XII, Section 17 – a privilege he distanced himself from.
“I don’t think we are in the situation na we have to employ Section 17 of Article XII,” he added.
Aquino said he has already asked the Department of Justice, the Department of Energy (DOE), the Department of Finance, and the Department of Trade and Industry to study why power rates rose in a period of national calamity when prices were supposed to be frozen.
He also said he does not think “the price increase that is being charged is commensurate to what should have been the case” even amid a Malampaya shutdown.
The Malampaya natural gas project has been operating off the shores of Palawan for 13 years. Regular maintenance of the plant, which happens every two or 3 years, shuts down Malampaya temporarily.
This year, simultaneous outages among power plants coincided with Malampaya’s scheduled maintenance, forcing Meralco to source power from plants that run on diesel. Because this is more expensive than natural gas, it caused a sudden rise in prices.
Punish wrong decisions?
Aquino said the rise may have possibly been avoided, suggesting power plants made “wrong business decisions” in buying from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM).
“The Malampaya shutdown is not an unusual event. It happens every two to 3 years. There is periodic maintenance required. It’s a foreseeable event. You know that the one that produces your fuel will not be able to produce, then you have to find a substitute. So the ones you can prepare for, you should prepare for,” he said.
He said power plants bought from WESM at very high spot prices, giving him the impression that “there are people who really made a very significant profit from this situation.”
“My position personally is, if it was a commercial decision that was wrong, government never promised that they will be shielded from their wrong decisions. And it follows, if it was a wrong decision – emphasis on ‘if’ because the investigation is not yet over – I don’t think the consumer should answer for the wrong decision made by the business,” Aquino said.
He said the DOE is looking into “what actually transpired, and what correct actions should be undertaken to address that situation.”
Aquino said the government is also looking into specific amendments to the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) law it will be proposing to Congress, particularly on the powers of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC). – Rappler.com
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