FDC In The News: On Philippine Energy Summit

In her speech during the Philippine Energy Summit, Mrs. Arroyo echoed our position “that electricity rates being charged by Meralco would be far lower if it buys entirely from Napocor.” In today’s issue of The Daily Tribune, the reporter noted that under usual electricity rate disputes that reach the ERC, FDC is one of the three consumer groups (the other are Oil Price Watch and Nasecore) that petition against Meralco.

The Daily Tribune
06 February 2008, Page 8
http://www.tribune.net.ph/business/20080206bus1.html

Gloria goes on the offensive, hits Meralco for high rates
By Riza Recio

A day after former Speaker Jose De Venecia Jr. zeroed in on her and the First Family for a string of cases on graft and corruption, poll fraud and human rights abuses aired lengthily in a cable TV channel of the Lopez group, President Arroyo went on the offensive in the closing of the Energy Summit yesterday, practically blaming the Lopez-controlled utility firm Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) for the high cost of electricity in the country.

Mrs. Arroyo directed the Department Of Trade And Industry (DTI) and the Bureau of Consumer Protection to file petitions before the electricity regulatory body Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to seek the lowering of various charges of Meralco to bring down electricity costs.

Among others, she said Meralco has been charging the highest rate among the country’s 114 distribution firms with a 16-percent return-on-rate-base (RoRB), which prior to the implementation of the Electricity and Power Industry Reform Act (Epira) was pegged at only a 12-percent return on investment.

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Philippine Daily Inquirer
Breaking News / Nation, Page A4
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20080206-117097/Energy-summit-failed-militant-group-claims

Energy summit failed, militant group claims
By Jerome Aning
Posted date: February 06, 2008

MANILA, Philippines — Militant groups on Tuesday said the energy summit organized by the government was a failure because it lacked credibility, urgency and boldness to address the pressing concern of escalating oil prices.

The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (New Patriotic Alliance, Bayan) and its allied organizations held a protest rally at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City on the last day of the three-day summit Tuesday.

“The public gained nothing from this extravagant show by the Department of Energy. Instead, the people will be burdened with more foreign debts that will be used to facilitate the increased foreign plunder of our energy resources,” said Arnold Padilla, a spokesperson for Bayan.

The Freedom from Debt Coalition said that “without changing the paradigm and current policies of the government, the summit’s resolutions would end up as mere palliatives to a chronic crisis.”

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GMANews.TV
05 February 2008, Online
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/79323/Activists-hit-Arroyos-Energy-Summit-resolutions-stage-protest-action#

Activists hit Arroyo’s Energy Summit resolutions, stage protest action

Various activist groups on Tuesday hit the Energy Summit sponsored by the government, saying it did not offer any real or lasting solutions to the problems facing the oil and power sectors.

The Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) said it believes that “without changing the paradigm and current policies of the government, the summit’s resolutions will end up as mere palliatives to a chronic crisis.”

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FDC on Philippine Energy Summit (February 5)

PRESS STATEMENT
Freedom from Debt Coalition
11 Matimpiin St., Brgy. Pinyahan, Quezon City, Philipines
Tel. No.: (+632) 9211985 | Telefax: (+632) 9246399
Email: fdc_media@yahoo.com
Contact persons:
Wilson Fortaleza, FDC board member, @ +63 920 9329171
Job Bordamonte, FDC power campaigner, @ +63 920 9149561

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
05 February 2008

No lasting solutions to chronic energy crisis without policy change—FDC 

As expected, the Energy Summit did not offer any real or lasting solutions to the problems facing the oil and power sectors.

The proposed summit recommendations—revisiting the nuclear power option and more foreign and private investments in the whole energy sector — like the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) and Oil Deregulation Law that preceded it — will only exacerbate already serious problems therein.

Likewise, proposals to lift or suspend the value-added tax (VAT) on oil and power and the scrapping of oil deregulation law are more likely to be junked by a panel of experts the energy department has assembled over the weekend at the Asian Development Bank to finalize the summit’s resolutions.

The Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) believes that without changing the paradigm and current policies of the government, the summit’s resolutions will end up as mere palliatives to a chronic crisis.

The Coalition is pushing for the lifting of VAT on oil and power and the cancellation of onerous independent power producer (IPP) contracts to significantly reduce the cost of fuel and power in the country.  It is also for the scrapping of the oil deregulation and EPIRA law to restore and strengthen the role of the State and communities in the oil and power industry.

Moreover, FDC is fighting for a paradigm that recognizes the crucial importance of renewable energy, environmentally sustainable technology, community participation and control – a paradigm we believe, is beyond the imagination of the Arroyo government, global capital, international financial institutions (IFIs) and the threat of climate change.  The use of fossil fuel such as oil is the biggest factor behind climate change.

Clearly, what manifested during the week-long summit is the ‘solid defense’ put up by the government, IFIs such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF)-World Bank, and the oil and utility giants in blocking proposals to overhaul the ‘fundamentals’ – the deregulation and privatization policies which made the costs of oil and power one of the highest in the world.

Prices of oil rose by more than 500 percent since the passage of the Oil Deregulation Law in 1998.  Pump prices was up P4 per liter further when Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo imposed VAT on petroleum products.  Electricity rates, on the other hand, had doubled since EPIRA was enacted in 2001. The IFIs were all behind the crafting as well as the financing of these policy reforms in the oil and power industry.  ADB loans in the country’s energy sector for the last 30 years (1978 to 2008), for instance, is already around $2.8 billion.

We know the days of cheap oil are over. But we also know that these days, transnational oil and power companies are enjoying super profits that the so called reforms in power and oil sectors have advanced rather than controlled.

The Arroyo government has decided to align itself with global capital rather than with ordinary and struggling consumers, in an unholy alliance blessed by the IFIs. We are condemned to ever rising oil and power prices, with little or no prospects of immediate relief and lasting long-term solutions to make life more bearable particularly for the least advantaged.  ###