MANILA, 27 May — After the bloody May 1 riots and divisive May 14 elections, President Gloria Arroyo faces another major battle—the passage of the controversial power reform bill.
This time, however, Arroyo’s fledgling administration finds itself ranged against groups that supported her rise to the presidency during Edsa People Power II in January and allies of ousted leader Joseph Estrada who staged the so-called “Edsa Tres” in April.
The bill, pending in Congress for the past six years, is aimed at privatizing the debt-laden National Power Corp. and restructuring the power industry to bring down lower power rates, among the highest in the region.
Arroyo, who is bent on having the bill passed during a special session of Congress on May 29-31, said she was planning to hold dialogues with the opposition to explain the wisdom of the Palace-sponsored measure.
In television ads, Arroyo said the bill’s passage would mean lower electricity rates for consumers, adding the high power cost in the country was one of the causes of poverty.
On Friday, she met for two hours with 20 representatives of nongovernment organizations as well as groups affiliated with the Church and the Left.
These groups, which formed the backbone of Edsa II, said the bill’s approval would only favor certain business groups, burden consumers and result in mass layoffs in the power industry.
They have threatened to hold protest actions outside Congress during the four-day special session.
Senate President Aquilino Pimentel Jr. yesterday said that a majority of his colleagues would vote for the bill.
“With due respect to the concerns of civil society, there’s a big possibility the bill will pass considering the length of time it has been tackled. There’s no way we can avoid that,” Pimentel told the weekly Kapihan sa Sulo Hotel.
But Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, a key Estrada ally, said he and other opposition lawmakers would block the bill in its present form, saying the proposed measure lacked safeguards to protect consumers against monopolies.
Enrile said the bill should ensure competition in the power sector, prohibit the passing of Napocor’s losses to consumers, stop abuses in setting of rates, call for open bidding of contracts and provide for the creation of an independent, trustworthy Energy Regulatory Board.
Even so, Energy Secretary Jose Camacho said he was “very optimistic” about the bill’s passage because the special session of Congress would be made up of incumbent legislators and not the incoming ones.
Senate approval expected
The House of Representatives has already approved its own version of the power bill. The Senate is expected to approve its version by Wednesday, according to sources.
A bicameral committee made up of members of both chambers will be meeting to iron out differences in the two versions of the bill.
A unified version will be presented to both the House and the Senate on Thursday for ratification.
Officials have said the power reform bill was symbolic of the Arroyo administration’s ability to push for economic reforms.
Under the bill, Napocor will be split into several companies and sold off. Its power generation facilities will be auctioned off along with the operation of its transmission lines under a concession agreement.
A study by Credit Suisse First Boston last year placed the total value of Napocor’s assets at around $4.5-$5 billion.
However, Camacho said the valuation might change 18 months from now depending on the state of the local economy and the market condition when the government would be ready to place its power assets on the auction block.
Camacho said the government would have to formulate the implementing rules and regulations of the power bill, draw up a privatization plan and then come up with bidding guidelines.
Protests
In a separate forum yesterday, the militant Kilusang Mayo Uno and allied organizations said they would march to the Congress grounds on Monday morning to lobby the junking of the bill and urge legislators to instead pass a law nationalizing the energy industry.
The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, party-list group Bayan Muna, urban poor group Kadamay and women’s group Gabriela are expected to join the KMU in the mass action.
Other groups have vowed to launch separate mass actions, including a symbolic power shutoff on the evening of May 30.
“The bill’s orientation alone is enough basis to junk it. Contrary to the President’s claim in her TV commercial, the power bill is not service-oriented but is aimed at increasing profits for foreign corporations and their local business partners at the expense of consumers and the people,” KMU spokesperson Sammy Malunes said in the weekly Kapihan sa Cypress.
“If the bill is passed, it will wreak havoc on the economic lives of the people. There will be mass layoffs. Household electricity bills will soar,” he warned.
At least 10,000 employees of Napocor and 7,000 workers of Meralco were likely to lose their jobs, he said.
The spokesperson of the Meralco Employees and Workers Association (Mewa) said the bill would force consumers to shoulder Napocor’s debts.
“When Napocor is sold, the buyers won’t have to pay off its debt—the government will shoulder these and in turn, pass these on to the people in the form of higher taxes. Another way to get the debts paid is to pass these on to the consumers. Either way, it’s the people who pay,” said Mewa spokesperson Al Diaz.
