FDC In The News: Forum on Oil and Electric Power

Yesterday’s forum dubbed “Consumer Crisis: The Case of Oil and Electric Power” sponsored by the Thematic Working Group on Trade and Industrial Policy of the Development Roundtable Series (DRTS), in partnership with the Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) was a success in terms of attendance and media coverage. TV networks, such as ABS-CBN 2, GMA 7, RPN 9, NET 25, Sonshine TV, print reporters of BusinessMirror, Philippine Daily Inquirer, The Manila Times, The Manila Bulletin, and online reporters of GMANews.Tv and PCIJ covered the event.

Below are the articles that came out:

BusinessMirror
18 June 2008, Page 1 with photo of Walden Bello
http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/06182008/headlines03.html

‘Government blunders taking toll on oil consumers’
By Jonathan L. Mayuga
Correspondent

THREE ‘”major blunders” by the government in energy policy are now taking their toll on Filipino oil consumers. These are the dismantling of the state energy complex, the subsequent deregulation of oil during the administration of former President Aquino and the sale of a controlling bloc of Petron shares to foreign interests during the administration of former President Ramos.

This is the view put forward by civil-society activists Maitet Diokno and Walden Bello, who spoke on Tuesday at a forum on oil and price issues, where the Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) also assailed Malacañang’s P500 cash subsidy to poor families, saying this is not the solution to the skyrocketing cost of oil and electricity.

The government, Bello said, should undo the last and the biggest blunder by regaining controlling interest and management control of Petron, citing the significance of state influence on some 35 percent to 40 percent of the market.

[READ MORE]

Inquirer Headlines / Nation
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20080618-143306/Like-putting-money-in-basket-with-a-hole

‘Like putting money in basket with a hole’
By Kristine L. Alave, Michael Lim Ubac
Philippine Daily Inquirer, Page 1
Posted date: June 18, 2008

[con't]

Speaking at a forum, University of the Philippines Prof. Walden Bello said the P1-billion subsidy for public transport drivers may just be another piece-meal solution to the energy crisis.

“The problem with this is, it’s another kind of a reactive kind of move,” Bello said.

Bello, president of the Freedom from Debt Coalition, said he was skeptical of the move because the government had, so far, failed to draw up a comprehensive plan to address the energy crisis.

[READ MORE]

The Manila Times
18 June 2008, Page A6
http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/june/18/yehey/metro/20080618met11.html

Civil society proposes power sector reforms

Around 100 representatives from civil society groups called for a bevy of reforms in the power sector, including the suspension of the expanded value-added tax (VAT) and other imposts on oil products, to bring down the cost of electric power in the country.

In a forum organized in Quezon City by the Freedom from Debt Coalition, Maitet Diokno-Pascual, the economist and former chairperson of the organization, said the power sector is highly concentrated in the hands of a few service providers, virtually creating monopolies.

She added the sector is highly inefficient and highly skewed in favor of those involved in providing services in the sector.

[READ MORE]

GMANews.TV
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/101618/FDC-unveils-12-ways-of-reducing-power-rates#

FDC unveils 12 ways of reducing power rates
Article posted June 17, 2008 – 04:28 PM

MANILA, Philippines – Scrapping the value added tax (VAT) on oil and power, refunding overcharged fees by utility firms and eliminating corruption and mismanagement in the power industry.

These are just some of the ways of how power rates can be reduced, an anti-debt watchdog group said Tuesday.

The Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) said the list stemmed from its position paper outlining 10 reasons why electricity bills are high.

[READ MORE]

Breaking News / Nation
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20080617-143259/UP-professor-slams-transport-subsidy

UP professor slams transport subsidy
By TJ Burgonio
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Posted date: June 17, 2008

MANILA, Philippines — The P1-billion subsidy for public utility vehicle owners keen on converting their diesel or gas-fed engines into ones running on cheaper fuels is just another piecemeal solution to the energy crisis, University of the Philippines Professor Walden Bello said Tuesday.

“The problem with this is, it’s another kind of a reactive kind of move,” he said at a forum, dubbed “Consumer Crisis: The Case of Oil and Electric Power,” at the Sulo Hotel in Quezon City.

Bello, president of the Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC), said he was skeptical of the move because the government has so far failed to draw up a comprehensive plan to address the energy crisis.

[READ MORE]