MANILA, Philippines – How about the rest of Luzon?
Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto urged government lawyers to recommend ways to expand the Supreme Court’s order temporarily stopping the power rate hike to areas beyond Metro Manila.
In a statement on Thursday, January 16, Recto said it was not just power distributor Manila Electric Company (Meralco) that raised its charges in December 2013. Recto said many cooperatives and distribution utilities in Luzon also bought power “at a price deemed outrageous” and passed this on to consumers.
“Why single out Meralco? If temporary retrieve was given to Meralco customers, the same must be granted to customers of other distribution utilities similarly situated,” said the senator who hails from Batangas.
“There must be one rule for the whole grid. There must be equal relief for all.”
Recto was referring to the Supreme Court’s 60-day temporary restraining order (TRO) on the P4.15-per-kilowatt-hour power rate hike of Meralco, the biggest price increase in recent history. The High Court set oral arguments on the issue on Tuesday, January 21.
The power distributor said the increase resulted from the shutdown of the Malampaya gas field and outages of power plants where Meralco sources its power requirements from. Meralco said it was forced to source power from plants that use diesel, which is more expensive than natural gas.
Recto said cooperatives in Luzon also purchased power from the same group of generators “apparently for the same price that Meralco did.” He said the judicial remedy granted to Meralco customers must then be extended to consumers from other areas.
“Kung sakop ng TRO ang mga may kaya sa Forbes Park, bakit ‘di saklaw ang mga mahihirap sa mga liblib na lugar? ‘ Di hamak [namang] mas mayaman ang NCR kaysa sa ibang rehiyon, ayon na mismo sa datos ng gobyerno,” Recto said.
(If the TRO covers the wealthy people in Forbes Park, why doesn’t it cover the poor from far-flung areas? Those living in the National Capital Region are undoubtedly richer than those in other regions, according to government data.)
Recto said that Meralco’s franchise covers only 40% of Luzon or 5.189 million consumers. Its francise area stops at Tayabas City, Quezon in the South, and Candaba, Pampanga in the North. He added that provinces like Batangas, Pampanga and Pangasinan are also outside Meralco coverage and the scope of the TRO.
“I urge Congress to likewise look into the case of the other cooperatives and distribution utilities in Luzon,” Recto added.
The Senate is investigating the power rate hike, and will resume its hearing on January 23, Thursday.
The energy committee of Senator Sergio “Serge” Osmeña III is coordinating with the Department of Energy, which is also investigating allegations of collusion among power plants that went on “unscheduled shutdown” coinciding with the scheduled maintenance shutdown of the Malampaya field.
Senators have proposed measures to ease the power rate hike like a bill authorizing the President to use the Malampaya fund to subsidize the increase.
The Malampaya fund consists of royalties collected from operations of the Malampaya gas and oil fields in the waters off Palawan province.
Lawmakers are also eyeing amendments to the 12-year-old law restructuring the power industry, the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 or EPIRA, saying it failed to achieve its objectives of ensuring a reliable and affordable power supply.
The Philippines has one of the highest electricity prices in Asia (WATCH: Rappler Animate: Why electricity prices in the Philippines are high). – Rappler.com
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