BY JOMAR CANLAS Reporter

THE House Energy Committee on Monday has greenlighted the passage of a resolution calling for a special joint session that will grant President Gloria Arroyo additional powers, aiming to address the Mindanao power crisis.

This developed despite opposition from presidential son and House Energy Committee chairman, Rep. Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo.

In an interview, Arroyo said presidential emergency powers should be the last resort.

“But in the event the solutions are not enough, and the need to grant the President additional powers, transparency should be guaranteed. We should set the rules and regulations, the parameters and the time frame for the additional powers,” he said.

“At this point, I believe additional powers for the President are not yet necessary,” he added.

However, Rep. Jose Aquino of Agusan del Norte countered that the people from Metro Manila should think about the of the people in Mindanao.

“Please forget about May 2010 elections, let us help first those in need in Mindanao,” he said.

Invoking Section 71 of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA), Rep. Rufus Rodriguez of Cagayan de Oro pleaded to his colleagues to pass the resolution calling for a joint Congressional session.

Section 71 of the EPIRA law states that “upon the determination by the President of the Philippines of an imminent shortage of the supply of electricity, Congress may authorize, through a joint resolution, the establishment of additional generating capacity under such terms and conditions as it may approve.”

During the hearing, Rodriguez said Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes’ efforts were not enough as they were only commitment coming from local stakeholders in Mindanao and were only as short-term solutions.

“We are experiencing four to twelve hour of brownouts in Mindanao. I move that this committee approve a resolution invoking Section 71 of the Epira requesting the President to determine and declare that there is not only an imminent shortage but actual shortage and that she will call a special session to pass a joint resolution to address the problems,” Rodriguez told panel members.

“We cannot wait. The matter isn’t whether it is doable or not. We have to do it. We in Mindanao could not delay this if we do not call a special session we will have problems not only today with our businesses, agriculture ,industry and commerce. We are also facing May 10, 2010 and this is a grave concern,” the lawmaker pointed out.

“I move that the Committee on Energy recommend that President Arroyo act under Section7 of the Epira law and that she determines and declare that there is an acute in a present actual shortage of electricity and that she shall call Congress to a special session to pass a joint resolution to address the Mindanao problems rules and regulations to be set by Congress,” he said.

Rodriguez said that if ever additional powers are granted the President, rules and regulation and specific parameters should be set so that the President may not be able to abuse it. “We are in an election period so we have to see to it that funds to be used for generating additional power capacity would not be re-channeled to campaign funds,” Rodriguez stressed.

After the motion was seconded by Reps. Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla, and Elpidio Barazaga of Cavite, who took over Arroyo as presiding officer, put the motion on the floor with all panel members present approving it unanimously.

However, House Speaker Prospero Nograles readily agreed with Arroyo, saying there is enough law to address the situation.

“No need for special session. Energy laws have enough powers to address crisis and act swiftly. The executive department has enough powers on its own already,” Nograles, who also hails from Mindanao, said through a text message to The Manila Times.