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by Euan Paulo C. Añonuev, Reporter
While the Philippine government
anticipates huge revenues from the impending privatization of the
National Transmission Corp. (TransCo), the state-grid’s employees
are in state of anxiety over their fate when the sale finally comes
to pass.
Fernando Masapol, Mindanao
Transco Employees Association (Mintrea) president, told The Manila
Times yesterday that around six thousand TransCo employees will be
affected once Congress grants the 25-year right to operate the
country’s power grid to the consortium of Monte Oro Grid Resources
Corp.
TransCo, the state’s
natural monopoly that runs the country’s transmission lines, which
brings electricity from power plants to electric utilities. The
company, which was once part of National Power Corp., earns profits
of upto P18 billion to P20 billion yearly from its operations.
Although TransCo’s
concessionaire has repeatedly assured its employees that they will
all be absorbed and their salaries, “which have not been raised
since 2001,” increased once it takes over the grid’s operations,
Masapol said that none of these assurances have been put in writing.
“Nothing is clear, even the
transaction documents have not been presented to the employees.
Well, they have provided us with one but it was not even signed,”
Masapol said in the vernacular.
Mintrea, which represents TransCo
employees across the country despite its name, has filed a case
before the office of the Ombudsman last week to force officials of
the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (Psalm) and
National Economic Development Authority to disclose these documents.
However, Arthur N. Aguilar,
TransCo president and CEO, earlier said that TransCo’s winning
bidder would have to secure a Congressional franchise first before
it can assess who among its employees will be retained.
“If they do get a franchise we
enter into a five-and-a-half-month transition period with them . . .
and within five-and-a-half months they will determine who among
those they will invite to be retained in their concession,”
Aguilar said
On the other hand, Jose C.
Ibazeta, president of Psalm, the government’s power sector
privatization arm, said he is optimistic that TransCo’s winning
bidder will take into account its skilled employees when it assesses
who among the company’s personnel will be retained in its new
concession company.
“I wouldn’t worry much about
TransCo’s employees as they are highly technical people,”
Ibazeta said.
Under the soon-to-be-privatized
TransCo, the concessionaire will take over the grid’s operations
and maintenance while a government-side will also be retained but
will require only about a hundred personnel.
But aside from being in the dark
as to what their future will be in the national grid, TransCo
employees fear they are being shortchanged, saying there is nothing
in the franchise bill being pushed in Congress “regarding
separation.”
“What will happen to the
employees?” Masapol wanted to know.
Although the Monte Oro Grid
consortium under the name of National Grid Corp. of the Philippines
has a year to obtain a Congressional franchise after posting the
highest bid of $3.95 billion when TransCo’s operations were
auctioned off in December last year, TransCo’s franchise bill has
already been approved on second reading in the lower house this
early. The bill’s counterpart in the Senate, on the other hand, is
now ready for the same.
Masapol said that in light of
this, TransCo employees will hold regular dialogues among its ranks
and reach out to lawmakers to air their concerns on the security of
their jobs at time when prices of commodities are increasing.
“We are not against
privatization as this is the policy direction of the government. But
we have to give security of tenure to the employees,” he added.
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