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By Jayson Cruz Luna Contributor
THE United Opposition (UNO) said
Monday that the Arroyo administration is passing the blame to the
private sector, particularly to the Lopez family and the Manila
Electric Company (Meralco), for its alleged failure to implement
reforms in the power sector and keep the cost of electricity down.
UNO President and Makati Mayor
Jejomar Binay said the “power play squeeze” being applied on the
Lopez Family and their company [Meralco] was another Palace strategy
to blame the private sector for the country’s power woes.
President Gloria Arroyo had
earlier called on the business sector to join her in a “tough
legal fight” with the Lopez-led Meralco before state energy
regulators as she announced that the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC)
will start hearing on May 6 the government’s omnibus petition
seeking to force Meralco to bring down the power rates it is
charging residents in Luzon, including Metro Manila.
She also announced that she had
ordered the state power generator, the National Power Corp. (Napocor),
to charge Meralco only P4.11 per kilowatt hour, the same rate it
charges the Luzon electric cooperatives, instead of the P6 to P10
per kWh that Meralco has been buying from Napocor and the wholesale
electricity spot market (WESM).
Napocor, she said, will now be
charging government-run economic zones P3.52 kWh, from P4.11 kWh as
“The generation cost of high-load factor Peza ecozone locators has
been reduced to an average Napocor billing rate to Meralco, not of
P4.11, but of P3.35 per kWh.”
Mrs. Arroyo’s initiatives,
however, met skepticism from the opposition.
“Seven years after the
enactment of Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 (Epira), the
Arroyo administration has failed to privatize power utilities
necessary to reform the energy sector and keep the cost of
electricity within the reach of the poor,” said Binay.
The opposition leader added that
Mrs. Arroyo consistently blames Meralco and the Lopezes, although
the Napocor is the culprit.
“Instead of properly
identifying the National Power Corporation [Napocor] as the obvious
culprit, President Arroyo deviously deflects the blame to Meralco
and the Lopez family,” Binay said, adding “she is being in
character.”
UNO National Capital Region (NCR)
Chairman San Juan Mayor JV Ejercito said Malacañang spin doctors
have designed the Meralco “power play squeeze” to divert public
attention from the worsening rice and food crisis causing unrest
among Filipinos.
“The Palace is trying to divert
attention from the worsening rice crisis. After seven years and P145
billion of people’s money spent, President Arroyo miserably failed
to make the Philippines achieve food security and
self-sufficiency,” Ejercito explained.
“This, despite the recent
lucrative rice purchases of National Food Administration [NFA] and
Malacañang’s latest fair-haired boy Arthur Yap,” he added.
Binay noted that Meralco does not
impose additional charges on power generation costs, but simply
passes onto consumers the charges being imposed by the state-owned
Napocor that still controls 70 percent of all power generation in
the country.
“The Meralco rates are lower
than those quoted by Napocor as can be seen in Wholesale Electricity
Spot Market Overview [WESM] figures and the Meralco reports to the
Energy Regulatory Commission [ERC],” Binay said.
He also said the timing of Mrs.
Arroyo’s tirades against Meralco was “suspect” and “could
very well be part of a pattern of harassment against Malacañang’s
perceived enemies,” given the critical stance taken by ABS-CBN
which is also owned by the Lopezes, against the government on the
issue of media restriction.
“I agree that we must lower the
cost of electricity, but I deplore the cavalier manner which Malacañang
is undertaking to achieve this end. It is passing the blame to the
private sector when it should review its own failed policies on
power and energy,” Binay explained.
Over the weekend, Executive
Secretary Eduardo Ermita expressed concern regarding high
electricity rates that prompted Mrs. Arroyo to go before state
energy regulators.
Lawmakers had questioned
President Arroyo’s call for big businesses to back her petition
against Meralco, saying it was just “a continuation” of her
fight against the Lopez family. 
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