2007 is on its way out. Another year has past. Looking back, it has been one chaotic year indeed. Here are 12 selected issues from the various topics I tackled this past year. Aside from the quotes from one article per month, I also included my wishes for 2008 pertaining to each of the issues.
1. Minimum wage, January 2007
“The business sector declares that a legislated P125.00 increase in the minimum wage will be ‘disastrous’ to the economy.
“The business sector presents, in their full page advertisements campaigning against the wage legislation, that the increase will cause a ‘disastrous chain reaction’ and is a ‘ticking time bomb’.
“I say, continue to deny the workers their just share to their fruits of labor and see for yourself where this ‘disastrous chain reaction’ will lead to. And yes, starve an already impoverished population and witness what a real “ticking time bomb” is all about.
My wish for 2008: May workers be more unified in their struggle for just wages. In the sorry state of Philippine politics, only a united loud angry voice by the masses may be effective for the trapos to notice.
2. Global warming, February 2007
“For years now, scientists all over the world have been raising the alarm over global warming. Strong evidence points to this phenomenon and how human activity is strongly link to climate change. Lately a scientific gathering strengthened this consensus with the hope that the world will act faster and face this inconvenient truth.
“The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued their Fourth Assessment Report on the underlying science of climate change. IPCC has concluded that humans are the main culprits for atmospheric greenhouse gas build-up.
My wish for 2008: I hope that more people the world over will pressure their respective governments to act swiftly on this global issue.
3. Still on poverty, March 2007
“Further according to the NCSB, here are the poverty thresholds per capita (per person, per day) in the areas in Provinces in the Visayas area: Guimaras P43.73, Negros Occidental P40.48, Aklan P39.59, Iloilo P39.33….
“It means that here in Iloilo we only need P39.33 a day to live out of poverty. Take note that that amount does not only cover food. That amount should include allocation for house rent, utilities, fare, clothing, health and for other emergencies.
“I don’t actually need to write an article to highlight how the government manipulates these data to hide the real crisis. I know that everyone knows the actual situation and how the burden is getting heavier by the day.
My wish for 2008: May the Filipinos survive another year.
4. Peace in Mindanao, April 2007
“It seems that peace in Mindanao remains to be illusive. The conflict in Sulu is getting worse. As the government continues its military offensive, we should once again bring to the fore the painful impact of war to the population.
“A decision to go to war should be supported with hard facts and real evidence that it is indeed necessary. The government should learn from the example of what happened in Iraq. The government should learn from the previous military offensives in Mindanao. Bombs and guns can never be a solution to the deep divide in the South.
My wish for 2008: Peace. Harmony. Yeah I know this again is too much to ask in a year. Ok then. A bit of peace. A tiny morsel of harmony and tolerance.
5. Arroyo dumped in mid-term elections, May 2007
“Looking at the results of the recent elections, I can say there is a glimmer of hope in the Filipino nation. As of today’s numbers, at least nine in the magic 12 senators are not administration candidates.
“This is by itself equivalent to a vote of no confidence to the current corrupt administration – a government headed by a president whose mandate simply came from a fellow named Garci.
“Despite the Filipinos reluctance to march out in the streets to protest Arroyo’s fraud and corrupt practices, this election results manifest the stand of the majority who are fed up.
“Though this is short of the anger I expect from a nation oppressed by a fake president, I nevertheless say this is a significant spark. A flicker that I hope will never die but grow into a blaze that will light up the Filipinos’ consciousness. A glimmer of hope…
My wish for 2008: I wish that principles return to Philippine politics. Okay that is too much to ask, I know. All I am asking for is just a tiny tiny bit. And may this glimmer of hope transform into a conflagration this year.
6. The continuing burden of PECO consumers, June 2007
“First order of business, here in Iloilo City, should be to alleviate the burden of the power consumers who for years have been slapped with exorbitant electric bills. PECO (read: Patay Electric Consumers) has for decades manipulated the rate setting mechanism to pad its electric rates. And up to now, it seems there is no respite to the suffering of the Ilonggo consumers.
“To compare, look at the amount of taxpayers’ money that the Province was able to save recently when they shifted their power source from PECO to Napocor. Now, the Iloilo Provincial Capitol only spends about half of what it pays PECO before.
“The questions now are: Is there a way to end this abuse and malpractices of PECO? Is there a feasible solution in sight? Or do we simply remain at the mercy of PECO?
“The answer is: Yes, there is a way! In fact we now have a golden opportunity to have a say in PECO and in fact take over its management as a consumer cooperative. To recall, the ERC ordered PECO last year to refund P2.89 Billion of overcharges to its consumers. This amount, instead of the tedious process of distributing it back to thousands of consumers, should be converted to shares to take-over the management of PECO.
My wish for 2008: A stronger consumer movement in Iloilo and all over the country.
7. Another SONA, July 2007
“‘First, investments in physical, intellectual, legal and security infrastructure to increase business confidence. Imprastraktura para sa negosyo at trabaho. Isang milyong trabaho taon-taon.’
“Interpretation: As in my previous SONA, I promised millions of jobs annually. And I am proud to say that yes I have achieved all those targets! In fact by simply paying lip service to the country’s economic needs, our government is forcing, este…causing… millions upon millions of Filipinos to be employed annually… outside of the country, however, hehehe. But still you have to credit me for that, for if there are jobs here in our country, then only a few Filipinos will be able to see America or Canada.
“‘Second, investments in a stronger and wider social safety net - murang gamot, abot-kayang pabahay, eskwelang primera klase, mga gurong mas magaling at mas malaki ang kita, mga librong de-kalidad, more scholarships for gifted students, and language instruction to maintain our lead in English proficiency. Dunong at kalusugan ang susi sa kasaganaan.’
“Interpretation: Health and education, that’s my priority. That is why for 2007 we budgeted P146B for education and P13B for heath care. Just don’t look at my allocation for debt servicing which, by the way, will amount to P622B. Don’t tell anybody ok? Just believe me when I say that health and education are my priorities.
My wish for 2008: That I will not be able to hear another round of Arroyo’s SONA.
8. More illegitimate debts, August 2007
“In 1996, The Philippine government entered into a loan agreement with government of Austria that involves an equivalent of P500 million.
“The Philippine government agreed to pay $2 million annually starting 2002 up to 2014. This translates to an additional annual debt payment of almost P100 Million peso for the Filipino taxpayers.
“Test however showed that the incinerator units are of substandard quality, as it did not meet emission levels guaranteed by the supplier.
“A subsequent assessment of the incinerators’ emissions, jointly conducted by the DOH and the World Health Organization (WHO), revealed that these incinerators emit extremely high pollution.
My wish for 2008: That our legislators will repeal automatic appropriations for debt payments and pass a measure to rationalize the country’s fiscal and debt policies.
9. Suspension of NBN project, September 2007
“The kickback-laden ZTE-NBN broadband project has been suspended. This controversial project will cost $329.5 million – that is, ladies and gentlemen, equivalent to almost P15 billion (yup, that’s 15 with 9 zeroes!) at the current exchange rate!
“But why was the project suspended? Is it because it was tainted with corruption? Or is it to prevent more stink from coming out? Did Gloria Arroyo wake up one morning and realized the contract is unfair to the government? Or is she trying to save her behind by protecting her husband’s behind?
“I think this project should not only be suspended but deserves to be thrown directly into the nearest thrash can. For what is likely to happen is that Arroyo will simply wait for the public opposition to the project to die down and then revive the contract. We know that these greedy, scheming trapos (traditional politicians) will do anything to make their pockets heavier.
My wish for 2008: I ardently wish that these greedy politicians will wake up one day, any day within the year, and recognize that stealing is wrong. Yeah right!
10. Another coal plant proposal and junket bribes, October 2007
“If the current technology used in coal plants is “clean” why is it that up to now there are ongoing technological researches on how to make the same technology become environmentally friendly?
“Simply put, if “clean coal” is indeed “clean” why the need to make it clean?
“This technology that they are pushing is plainly NOT CLEAN – that is the simple message, no matter how they distort the facts. The term “clean coal technology” is a misnomer – grossly misleading and revoltingly contradictory.
“This leads me now to a separate but related issue – the question of legality and propriety of the ‘study trips’ of our ‘honorable’ city officials that were sponsored by the very proponent of a coal plant project in the City of Iloilo.
"Treñas, Mabilog and these councilors should know better. As public officials, they should ensure that their actions and position on issues is beyond reproach. They should not allow their office to be tarnished by such mindless action.
My wish for 2008: That these blind city officials will see the light – that no amount of PR and bribes can cover the fact that coal plants are harmful to human health and the environment. I also wish that Ilonggos will see through the deceit of the coal plant proponents.
11. The pardon of Erap, November 2007
“In writing this article I am even at a loss as to how to approach the issue. The reason is that in any angle you view it; this current move of the fake president is simply revoltingly repulsive (or repulsively revolting)! It was simply a pardon granted without any single grain of wisdom. Well, apart of course from the motive of self-preservation.
“Yes, that is a crystal clear fact – that this pardon of Erap is nothing more than Arroyo’s scheme of ensuring her stay in power. Arroyo is simply trying to appease a section of the ever growing opposition to her administration – a tactic to divide those calling for her immediate removal from office.
“When national policies are made to simply satisfy the interests of a politician then we have a problem. When a presidential power is used for the sole purpose of satisfying a whim of a trapo President then we have a big problem.
My wish for 2008: That Gloria Arroyo and Erap be put in jail together in one cell for crimes against the Filipino nation. Or at least in my dream – that would surely give me a restful sleep.
12. The strengthening of the Peso, December 2007
“The strengthening of the peso against the dollar was also the brainchild of Arroyo. By not investing enough in economic services, the government was able to force more Filipinos, including physicians who became nurses, to work abroad. So the more OFWs, the more dollar and other foreign currency remittances.
“These OFW remittances are the reason why our economy is kept afloat. Isn’t that a very clever economic strategy? Push your population to hunger and they will find food somewhere else and even send more food back home.
My wish for 2008: That Arroyo stops taking credit from ‘achievements’ she did not have a hand on. And that Filipinos will have a better Christmas next year – more food on the table!
* * * * *
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL! Thanks to all readers and all those who sent text messages and emails. I was not able to reply to all your messages but rest assured that they are all highly appreciated.
(Send your comments and reactions to: for text messages to 0919-348-6337; for e-mails to ianseruelo@gmail.com.)
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Another Blue Christmas
“Yahweh, Yahweh
Always pain before a child is born
Yahweh, tell me now
Why the dark before the dawn?”
- from “Yahweh” by U2
It is Christmas season once again and it seems there is not much going on. When I say “going on”, I mean improvement in the lives of the ordinary Filipinos.
In fact, “improvement” is not even the appropriate term; for this column would be glad to proclaim if the majority still feel at least the same level of satisfaction (or more accurately: destitution) from the previous year.
Try to ask around and check how people think they fared today compared to the previous Christmases. Well, for sure majority will confirm this, albeit, with smiling faces, what with the Filipinos’ capacity to smile in the face of extreme hardship.
The year 2007 is about to end and clearly this year marks ever deeper hardship for the Filipino family. It was a year of steep increases in the cost of basic commodities as well as other services and goods.
For one the cost of petroleum products have increased many times we even lost count as to the actual number of increases. Along with these came the increases in the prices of goods which are dependent in different levels to oil inputs.
Jeepney fares also increased, which is I think the highest single increase as far as I can remember. And yes of course the electricity rates! This was indeed another year of steep increases in power rates and more is to come as the fuel cost continue to soar. Add to that the continuing anti-consumer practices of PECO, other private power distribution companies and electric cooperatives.
Well, we may ask, since when did these prices stop increasing? Good question, but this was a year with the sharpest rise in the cost of different products and the nominal cost of living as a whole.
Secondly, it’s not only a function of the rate of increases of the various commodities and services. It is also a function of the stunted level of incomes of the poor Filipinos especially the ordinary workers. Well I don’t want to whine about the recently approved adjustment in the minimum wage because that will take another article. The bottom line is -- our capacity to buy remains very low and continues to be eroded.
This was another year of hardship to the majority of Filipinos while the government is busy window-dressing the economy.
This fiscal crisis, which has in fact been around as early as the year 2001, is manifested in the budget, spending and new borrowings of the national government. Less and less is spent by this government for social (housing, health care, education) and economic (infrastructure) services as it borrows more and more to pay for its debts.
No wonder more Filipinos are going out and even more are planning to go out, not for a greener pasture (for we can’t even say that what we have in the Philippines is still green!), but simply for a green one.
I sure hope that these dark days will be over soon as we wake up to a new dawn. Wishful thinking…
Trivia: This article is largely based from an article I wrote in December 2004. The funny thing is – I only did a few editing and the article seems to be current. The situation holds true then as much as today. That is the sad reality.
(Send your comments and reactions to: for text messages to 0919-348-6337; for e-mails to ianseruelo@gmail.com.)
Always pain before a child is born
Yahweh, tell me now
Why the dark before the dawn?”
- from “Yahweh” by U2
It is Christmas season once again and it seems there is not much going on. When I say “going on”, I mean improvement in the lives of the ordinary Filipinos.
In fact, “improvement” is not even the appropriate term; for this column would be glad to proclaim if the majority still feel at least the same level of satisfaction (or more accurately: destitution) from the previous year.
Try to ask around and check how people think they fared today compared to the previous Christmases. Well, for sure majority will confirm this, albeit, with smiling faces, what with the Filipinos’ capacity to smile in the face of extreme hardship.
The year 2007 is about to end and clearly this year marks ever deeper hardship for the Filipino family. It was a year of steep increases in the cost of basic commodities as well as other services and goods.
For one the cost of petroleum products have increased many times we even lost count as to the actual number of increases. Along with these came the increases in the prices of goods which are dependent in different levels to oil inputs.
Jeepney fares also increased, which is I think the highest single increase as far as I can remember. And yes of course the electricity rates! This was indeed another year of steep increases in power rates and more is to come as the fuel cost continue to soar. Add to that the continuing anti-consumer practices of PECO, other private power distribution companies and electric cooperatives.
Well, we may ask, since when did these prices stop increasing? Good question, but this was a year with the sharpest rise in the cost of different products and the nominal cost of living as a whole.
Secondly, it’s not only a function of the rate of increases of the various commodities and services. It is also a function of the stunted level of incomes of the poor Filipinos especially the ordinary workers. Well I don’t want to whine about the recently approved adjustment in the minimum wage because that will take another article. The bottom line is -- our capacity to buy remains very low and continues to be eroded.
This was another year of hardship to the majority of Filipinos while the government is busy window-dressing the economy.
This fiscal crisis, which has in fact been around as early as the year 2001, is manifested in the budget, spending and new borrowings of the national government. Less and less is spent by this government for social (housing, health care, education) and economic (infrastructure) services as it borrows more and more to pay for its debts.
No wonder more Filipinos are going out and even more are planning to go out, not for a greener pasture (for we can’t even say that what we have in the Philippines is still green!), but simply for a green one.
I sure hope that these dark days will be over soon as we wake up to a new dawn. Wishful thinking…
Trivia: This article is largely based from an article I wrote in December 2004. The funny thing is – I only did a few editing and the article seems to be current. The situation holds true then as much as today. That is the sad reality.
(Send your comments and reactions to: for text messages to 0919-348-6337; for e-mails to ianseruelo@gmail.com.)
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Economist or Politician?
“I think I’m a pretty good economist, but a very bad politician.”
- by Gloria Macapacagal-Arroyo
On rare occasions I agree with Gloria Arroyo. She may be a well-known liar and one of the most corrupt trapo (traditional politician) in Philippine history but once in a while she has the capability to tell the truth. For example the quote above is indeed very true. Below are my proofs and validations.
As a “pretty good economist” the following are just a few examples of Arroyo’s economic accomplishments.
1) Arroyo was responsible in the country’s ballooning debt. Gloria Arroyo, in just a period of 4 years (2001-2005), borrowed P2.44 Trillion, which is more than the combined borrowings of the Aquino, Ramos and Estrada administrations. Arroyo in just a short period was able to bury the country in deeper debt! Of course, we and our grand-children will be the ones who will end up paying those loans.
2) Despite of the ever increasing debt, the only item in the annual government budget that receives real increases in allocation is debt servicing. Where did the money go? Only Arroyo and cohorts know. Sounds like magic but only a “pretty good economist” can do that!
3) Arroyo was the bright mind behind the introduction of an efficient solution to the country’s classroom shortage. Can you still remember last year, when Gloria was able to lick the problem of classroom shortage in the country? All she did was change the ideal classroom-to-student ratio from 1 classroom for every 50 students to 1 classroom for every 100 students! Do you have any better economic strategy than that?
4) Gloria was able to improve the financial status, not of the country by the way, but of her family and cronies. Her being the president is material to the business dealings Mike Arroyo and friends brokered with the Philippine government to corner handsome contracts. Also let us not forget Jose Pidal who stashed away millions in deposits in controversial deals with the Arroyo government.
5) The strengthening of the peso against the dollar was also the brainchild of Arroyo. By not investing enough in economic services, the government was able to force more Filipinos, including physicians who became nurses, to work abroad. So the more OFWs, the more dollar and other foreign currency remittances.
These OFW remittances are the reason why our economy is kept afloat. Isn’t that a very clever economic strategy? Push your population to hunger and they will find food somewhere else and even send more food back home.
Now, as a “very bad politician”, below are Gloria’s career highlights so far.
1) During the EDSA 2 protests, Gloria Arroyo then Vice-president only abandoned her boss once it was clear that Erap is about to be toppled. Gloria’s trapo strategy: Stay in the fence while the factions are throwing punches, then when one is about to be knocked out, immediately jump to the winning side! She is such a bad politician indeed – no back-bone, unprincipled, fence-sitter.
2) To make sure she won the previous presidential election, Arroyo utilized hundreds of millions of taxpayers’ money to finance her campaign by distributing (read: bribing) local officials. Also she employed the infamous Joc-joc Bolante to distribute bribes pretending as fertilizers. And let us not forget our all-time favorite, Virgilio “Hello Garci” Garcillano who was tasked to make sure that Arroyo leads by 1 million votes in Mindanao at all cost.
Arroyo is such a “very bad politician” for being caught on tape conspiring to rig the previous presidential election. Good politicians don’t get caught, right?
3) Arroyo is swamped with anomalies and scandals which prompted calls for her to be impeached. Impeachment proceeding should be initiated in the Lower House and under the House rules, only one impeachment case can be filed against her within a year. Now, by simply having one of her cohorts file a weak case against her she manages to give herself another year of getting away with mounting crimes against the nation. By abusing technicalities, Arroyo makes a mockery of the constitution and our laws.
4) To appease a section of the opposition and a section of poor Filipinos, Arroyo pardoned Erap after he was found guilty of plunder. Disguised as a humanitarian act, a plunderer who was toppled by the people was freed just to ensure her stay in power.
5) As a “very bad politician”, Arroyo employed different tactics to suppress dissent and opposition to her fake and corrupt government. We can still remember the violent Calibrated Preemptive Response or CPR that met street demonstrations last year. Also, E.O. 464 which was issued to block the appearance of government officials and military officers in Congressional hearings that investigate her administration’s anomalies.
Meanwhile activists and journalists are being assassinated in such blatant fashion as the Arroyo government pays lip service to the protection of human rights.
Pretty good economist but a very bad politician? You bet!
(Send your comments and reactions to: for text messages to 0919-348-6337; for e-mails to ianseruelo@gmail.com.)
- by Gloria Macapacagal-Arroyo
On rare occasions I agree with Gloria Arroyo. She may be a well-known liar and one of the most corrupt trapo (traditional politician) in Philippine history but once in a while she has the capability to tell the truth. For example the quote above is indeed very true. Below are my proofs and validations.
As a “pretty good economist” the following are just a few examples of Arroyo’s economic accomplishments.
1) Arroyo was responsible in the country’s ballooning debt. Gloria Arroyo, in just a period of 4 years (2001-2005), borrowed P2.44 Trillion, which is more than the combined borrowings of the Aquino, Ramos and Estrada administrations. Arroyo in just a short period was able to bury the country in deeper debt! Of course, we and our grand-children will be the ones who will end up paying those loans.
2) Despite of the ever increasing debt, the only item in the annual government budget that receives real increases in allocation is debt servicing. Where did the money go? Only Arroyo and cohorts know. Sounds like magic but only a “pretty good economist” can do that!
3) Arroyo was the bright mind behind the introduction of an efficient solution to the country’s classroom shortage. Can you still remember last year, when Gloria was able to lick the problem of classroom shortage in the country? All she did was change the ideal classroom-to-student ratio from 1 classroom for every 50 students to 1 classroom for every 100 students! Do you have any better economic strategy than that?
4) Gloria was able to improve the financial status, not of the country by the way, but of her family and cronies. Her being the president is material to the business dealings Mike Arroyo and friends brokered with the Philippine government to corner handsome contracts. Also let us not forget Jose Pidal who stashed away millions in deposits in controversial deals with the Arroyo government.
5) The strengthening of the peso against the dollar was also the brainchild of Arroyo. By not investing enough in economic services, the government was able to force more Filipinos, including physicians who became nurses, to work abroad. So the more OFWs, the more dollar and other foreign currency remittances.
These OFW remittances are the reason why our economy is kept afloat. Isn’t that a very clever economic strategy? Push your population to hunger and they will find food somewhere else and even send more food back home.
Now, as a “very bad politician”, below are Gloria’s career highlights so far.
1) During the EDSA 2 protests, Gloria Arroyo then Vice-president only abandoned her boss once it was clear that Erap is about to be toppled. Gloria’s trapo strategy: Stay in the fence while the factions are throwing punches, then when one is about to be knocked out, immediately jump to the winning side! She is such a bad politician indeed – no back-bone, unprincipled, fence-sitter.
2) To make sure she won the previous presidential election, Arroyo utilized hundreds of millions of taxpayers’ money to finance her campaign by distributing (read: bribing) local officials. Also she employed the infamous Joc-joc Bolante to distribute bribes pretending as fertilizers. And let us not forget our all-time favorite, Virgilio “Hello Garci” Garcillano who was tasked to make sure that Arroyo leads by 1 million votes in Mindanao at all cost.
Arroyo is such a “very bad politician” for being caught on tape conspiring to rig the previous presidential election. Good politicians don’t get caught, right?
3) Arroyo is swamped with anomalies and scandals which prompted calls for her to be impeached. Impeachment proceeding should be initiated in the Lower House and under the House rules, only one impeachment case can be filed against her within a year. Now, by simply having one of her cohorts file a weak case against her she manages to give herself another year of getting away with mounting crimes against the nation. By abusing technicalities, Arroyo makes a mockery of the constitution and our laws.
4) To appease a section of the opposition and a section of poor Filipinos, Arroyo pardoned Erap after he was found guilty of plunder. Disguised as a humanitarian act, a plunderer who was toppled by the people was freed just to ensure her stay in power.
5) As a “very bad politician”, Arroyo employed different tactics to suppress dissent and opposition to her fake and corrupt government. We can still remember the violent Calibrated Preemptive Response or CPR that met street demonstrations last year. Also, E.O. 464 which was issued to block the appearance of government officials and military officers in Congressional hearings that investigate her administration’s anomalies.
Meanwhile activists and journalists are being assassinated in such blatant fashion as the Arroyo government pays lip service to the protection of human rights.
Pretty good economist but a very bad politician? You bet!
(Send your comments and reactions to: for text messages to 0919-348-6337; for e-mails to ianseruelo@gmail.com.)
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Opinions and Opinions
“An opinion should be the result of thought, not a substitute for it.”
- by Jef Mallett
There are opinions that you can easily laugh off. These are the kind of opinions that are not supported by facts or worse run counter to established facts. Worst, these opinions are sometimes being passed off as truths.
An example of this is the opinion of Iloilo City Mayor Treñas and other coal plant pushers when they claim that coal plants are environmentally safe as their emissions are “odorless, colorless and tasteless”. Well, the last time I checked the Mayor does not have a degree in chemistry, medicine, environmental science or any related field. Further, in the absence of expertise, the Mayor should at least cite some credible studies and not simply believe the opinion of fellow coal plant pushers in Taiwan.
There are also opinions that you need to take seriously. These opinions are backed up by data and scientific evidence. And most often this opinion comes from somebody who has expertise and experience on the subject matter.
A good example of this is an opinion from a Physician who heads the National Poison Management and Control Center on the same subject – coal plants. Dr. Lynn R. Panganiban, an Ilonggo, is also a Professor of the UP College of Medicine Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, FPSCOT-Fellow of the Philippine Society of Clinical and Occupational Toxicology, and DPAFP-Diplomate of the Phil. Academy of Family Physicians.
Now, this column is featuring below an excerpt from Dr. Lynn’s email. Please compare her point by point assertions to the “intelligent” opinion of coal plant pushers – Treñas, Mabilog, et al.
* * * * *
Dear Colleagues in the health profession and concerned Ilonggos/Ilonggas,
Greetings!
Two weeks ago, it was brought to my attention that there is a plan to set up a coal-fired power plant in the City of Iloilo. This news came as a surprise to me since I have the belief that this source of electrical power was no longer an option considering that a few years back, similar proposals were resisted and rejected by the Municipalities of Banate and Concepcion.
As an Ilongga who remains to be appreciative and proud of the City and as a physician-toxicologist who understands the impact of hazardous chemicals on health and environment, I am deeply concerned and saddened about the proposed setting up of the said coal-fired power plant.
It is a general knowledge that coal-fired power plants have been the major source of air pollution all over the world. In fact, their emissions have been major contributors to the global warming phenomenon we are currently experiencing. Although there have been attempts in addressing the toxic discharges with introduction of new technologies, we are still in the stage of merely reducing these emissions and have no methods of totally eliminating them.
My concern and apprehension with the establishment of the coal-fired power plant is based on the following:
1. Emissions from coal-fired power plants are composed of pollutants such as oxides of sulfur, mainly sulfur dioxide; nitrogen oxides; polynuclear hydrocarbons; total gaseous hydrocarbons; solid particulates, especially PM 10; formaldehyde; carbon monoxide, metals such as mercury and arsenic.
2. The above substances carry with them intrinsic toxic effects. In combination, these effects can be magnified because of chemical-chemical interactions that produce synergistic effects. For instance, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides and particulate matter have common target organs - the respiratory and cardiovascular systems. The combined effects of these substances can be more than the sum of the individual effects on these organ systems.
3. There are members, in the community situated near coal-fired power plants, who are vulnerable to even low concentrations of the above substances. For instance, children may be exposed to more of these substances than adults because they breathe more air for their size than adults do. For sulfur dioxide, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) (1999) reports that “Long term studies surveying large numbers of children indicate that children who have breathed sulfur dioxide pollution may develop more breathing problems as they grow older, may make more emergency room visits for treatment of wheezing fits, and may get more respiratory illnesses than other children. Children with asthma may be especially sensitive even to low concentrations of sulfur dioxide.” A recent study published in the Environmental Research in January 2007 showed that “air pollution from coal-fired power station, although not exceeding local pollution standards, had a negative effect in children’s lung function development.”
4. The presence of heavy metals in the emissions of coal-fired power plant should be taken into consideration. Mercury has been identified as one of the metals released in coal combustion. Globally, this toxic metal has caused significant adverse impacts such that in 2005, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Governing Council arrived at the decision that “urges governments, intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations and the private sector to develop and implement partnerships in a clear, transparent and accountable manner, as one approach to reducing the risks to human health and the environment the release of mercury and its compounds to the environment.”
With regards the health effects, it has been found that organic mercury is a potent teratogen and reproductive poison. Its worst effects involve the central nervous system and the onset can be insidious and compose of dysarthria, ataxia, mental retardation, among others.
5. The establishment of the coal-fired power plant is not an economically-efficient way of sourcing energy if we include in the total cost of operation the health and environmental impacts. The increased hospital visits, the prescribed medications, the man-hour productive losses because of sickness carry with them monetary equivalents. For an individual who develops mercury poisoning, the cost of the chelating agent alone for a 19-day course is P136, 095.00. The big question is: Who will shoulder these health costs? Have these been taken into consideration?
6. Establishment of a hazardous industry such as the coal-fired power generation will require stringent and efficient monitoring of its impact on health and environment. Monitoring does not just mean merely using our sense of smell or sight. This monitoring system means setting up of a scientifically sound technology for measuring pollutant levels in the environment and biologic fluids, their periodic evaluation and provision of appropriate interventions. This system entails money as well when done in an honest to goodness manner. Current cost for each environmental sample runs from P1,200.00-P5,000.00. This cost is also the same for biologic samples. Again, has this kind of monitoring system been considered and who will shoulder the cost?
In my 17 years of work as a toxicologist, I still have to see an efficiently operating monitoring system that seriously looks into health and environmental impacts of pollutants in the country.
Very truly yours,
Lynn R. Panganiban, MD, FPSCOT, DPAFP
Mandaluyong City
* * * * *
(Send your comments and reactions to: for text messages to 0919-348-6337; for e-mails to ianseruelo@gmail.com)
- by Jef Mallett
There are opinions that you can easily laugh off. These are the kind of opinions that are not supported by facts or worse run counter to established facts. Worst, these opinions are sometimes being passed off as truths.
An example of this is the opinion of Iloilo City Mayor Treñas and other coal plant pushers when they claim that coal plants are environmentally safe as their emissions are “odorless, colorless and tasteless”. Well, the last time I checked the Mayor does not have a degree in chemistry, medicine, environmental science or any related field. Further, in the absence of expertise, the Mayor should at least cite some credible studies and not simply believe the opinion of fellow coal plant pushers in Taiwan.
There are also opinions that you need to take seriously. These opinions are backed up by data and scientific evidence. And most often this opinion comes from somebody who has expertise and experience on the subject matter.
A good example of this is an opinion from a Physician who heads the National Poison Management and Control Center on the same subject – coal plants. Dr. Lynn R. Panganiban, an Ilonggo, is also a Professor of the UP College of Medicine Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, FPSCOT-Fellow of the Philippine Society of Clinical and Occupational Toxicology, and DPAFP-Diplomate of the Phil. Academy of Family Physicians.
Now, this column is featuring below an excerpt from Dr. Lynn’s email. Please compare her point by point assertions to the “intelligent” opinion of coal plant pushers – Treñas, Mabilog, et al.
* * * * *
Dear Colleagues in the health profession and concerned Ilonggos/Ilonggas,
Greetings!
Two weeks ago, it was brought to my attention that there is a plan to set up a coal-fired power plant in the City of Iloilo. This news came as a surprise to me since I have the belief that this source of electrical power was no longer an option considering that a few years back, similar proposals were resisted and rejected by the Municipalities of Banate and Concepcion.
As an Ilongga who remains to be appreciative and proud of the City and as a physician-toxicologist who understands the impact of hazardous chemicals on health and environment, I am deeply concerned and saddened about the proposed setting up of the said coal-fired power plant.
It is a general knowledge that coal-fired power plants have been the major source of air pollution all over the world. In fact, their emissions have been major contributors to the global warming phenomenon we are currently experiencing. Although there have been attempts in addressing the toxic discharges with introduction of new technologies, we are still in the stage of merely reducing these emissions and have no methods of totally eliminating them.
My concern and apprehension with the establishment of the coal-fired power plant is based on the following:
1. Emissions from coal-fired power plants are composed of pollutants such as oxides of sulfur, mainly sulfur dioxide; nitrogen oxides; polynuclear hydrocarbons; total gaseous hydrocarbons; solid particulates, especially PM 10; formaldehyde; carbon monoxide, metals such as mercury and arsenic.
2. The above substances carry with them intrinsic toxic effects. In combination, these effects can be magnified because of chemical-chemical interactions that produce synergistic effects. For instance, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides and particulate matter have common target organs - the respiratory and cardiovascular systems. The combined effects of these substances can be more than the sum of the individual effects on these organ systems.
3. There are members, in the community situated near coal-fired power plants, who are vulnerable to even low concentrations of the above substances. For instance, children may be exposed to more of these substances than adults because they breathe more air for their size than adults do. For sulfur dioxide, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) (1999) reports that “Long term studies surveying large numbers of children indicate that children who have breathed sulfur dioxide pollution may develop more breathing problems as they grow older, may make more emergency room visits for treatment of wheezing fits, and may get more respiratory illnesses than other children. Children with asthma may be especially sensitive even to low concentrations of sulfur dioxide.” A recent study published in the Environmental Research in January 2007 showed that “air pollution from coal-fired power station, although not exceeding local pollution standards, had a negative effect in children’s lung function development.”
4. The presence of heavy metals in the emissions of coal-fired power plant should be taken into consideration. Mercury has been identified as one of the metals released in coal combustion. Globally, this toxic metal has caused significant adverse impacts such that in 2005, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Governing Council arrived at the decision that “urges governments, intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations and the private sector to develop and implement partnerships in a clear, transparent and accountable manner, as one approach to reducing the risks to human health and the environment the release of mercury and its compounds to the environment.”
With regards the health effects, it has been found that organic mercury is a potent teratogen and reproductive poison. Its worst effects involve the central nervous system and the onset can be insidious and compose of dysarthria, ataxia, mental retardation, among others.
5. The establishment of the coal-fired power plant is not an economically-efficient way of sourcing energy if we include in the total cost of operation the health and environmental impacts. The increased hospital visits, the prescribed medications, the man-hour productive losses because of sickness carry with them monetary equivalents. For an individual who develops mercury poisoning, the cost of the chelating agent alone for a 19-day course is P136, 095.00. The big question is: Who will shoulder these health costs? Have these been taken into consideration?
6. Establishment of a hazardous industry such as the coal-fired power generation will require stringent and efficient monitoring of its impact on health and environment. Monitoring does not just mean merely using our sense of smell or sight. This monitoring system means setting up of a scientifically sound technology for measuring pollutant levels in the environment and biologic fluids, their periodic evaluation and provision of appropriate interventions. This system entails money as well when done in an honest to goodness manner. Current cost for each environmental sample runs from P1,200.00-P5,000.00. This cost is also the same for biologic samples. Again, has this kind of monitoring system been considered and who will shoulder the cost?
In my 17 years of work as a toxicologist, I still have to see an efficiently operating monitoring system that seriously looks into health and environmental impacts of pollutants in the country.
Very truly yours,
Lynn R. Panganiban, MD, FPSCOT, DPAFP
Mandaluyong City
* * * * *
(Send your comments and reactions to: for text messages to 0919-348-6337; for e-mails to ianseruelo@gmail.com)
Monday, November 12, 2007
Trapoliticking at its peak
“Funky crime funky crime
don't you know funk's colors blind
well I've committed a funky crime
against a state of mind”
- from “Funky Crime” by Red Hot Chili Peppers
That law is always rigged to favor the rich and the powerful has been blatantly displayed once again in Philippine politics. Trapoliticking in the country is at its highest peak nowadays. And these trapos (traditional politicians) are really getting to be bolder and bolder these days.
It seems that these unprincipled politicians can just rob us (of our taxes or of justice) in broad daylight and pretend as if there is nothing wrong with their action. They can even look us straight in the eye and say they are doing it “for the good of the country”.
Two recent political events have marked the year 2007 as the Year of the Trapos. One is the instant pardon of Erap Estrada who was found guilty of plunder. Then comes the recent efforts of Gloria Arroyo to once again stop a genuine impeachment against her…at all costs.
Pardon me, Madame Gloria
First, let’s track back a little to Arroyo’s pardon of Erap Estrada. I do not know, but this recent action of Arroyo has sort of sent 1000 volts of electricity up my spine. I felt numbness. Disbelief. Anger. And a hint of hopelessness.
For how could you forgive somebody found guilty of plunder but has not even acknowledged his wrongdoing? How could you forget a crime when the criminal has not even owned up to his offense?
It’s not that I don’t expect Gloria Arroyo to be capable of such hideous trapoliticking. But it’s more of a shock that it is indeed happening. It’s like as time goes by under this administration, the Filipino nation is getting buried deeper and deeper into this pit of unprincipled politics.
In writing this article I am even at a loss as to how to approach the issue. The reason is that in any angle you view it; this current move of the fake president is simply revoltingly repulsive (or repulsively revolting)! It was simply a pardon granted without any single grain of wisdom. Well, apart of course from the motive of self-preservation.
Yes, that is a crystal clear fact – that this pardon of Erap is nothing more than Arroyo’s scheme of ensuring her stay in power. Arroyo is simply trying to appease a section of the ever growing opposition to her administration – a tactic to divide those calling for her immediate removal from office.
When national policies are made to simply satisfy the interests of a politician then we have a problem. When a presidential power is used for the sole purpose of satisfying a whim of a trapo President then we have a big problem.
The spirit of the law, impeached
Now let us go to the issue of the recent efforts of Arroyo to once again stop a genuine impeachment against her.
The removal of a dishonest, abusive and corrupt President is an inherent power of the people from whom all the government powers emanates. This power to remove a President is delegated to Congress through the process of impeachment. This, in essence, is a mechanism to ensure the accountability of the leader of the land to the people through a body which is representative of them.
Now, an impeachment proceeding should be initiated in the Lower House and under the House rules, only one impeachment case can be filed against the same impeachable official within a year. This limitation is supposed to prevent a harassment of impeachment cases against a President who is assumed to be working for the country.
Gloria Arroyo however is using this rule to make a mockery of our constitution and our laws. By simply having one of her cohorts file a weak case against her she manages to give herself another year of getting away with mounting crimes against the nation.
The sadder fact is that a lot of Congress Representatives are in connivance with Malacañang in this scheme. Despite the existence of strong evidence against Arroyo, these shameful people we call “honorable” have several times terminated the impeachment proceedings for mere technicalities taking advantage of the same weak case that one of their accomplices filed.
The spirit of the law is unashamedly disregarded by these trapos to simply make sure that their benefactor remains in power. For them, implementing the spirit of the law is not as important as making sure that the hand that feeds their pocket is safe and sound.
If the Supreme Court doesn’t make a corrective stand on this issue then down the drain our nation go.
(Send your comments and reactions to: for text messages to 0919-348-6337; for e-mails to ianseruelo@gmail.com.)
don't you know funk's colors blind
well I've committed a funky crime
against a state of mind”
- from “Funky Crime” by Red Hot Chili Peppers
That law is always rigged to favor the rich and the powerful has been blatantly displayed once again in Philippine politics. Trapoliticking in the country is at its highest peak nowadays. And these trapos (traditional politicians) are really getting to be bolder and bolder these days.
It seems that these unprincipled politicians can just rob us (of our taxes or of justice) in broad daylight and pretend as if there is nothing wrong with their action. They can even look us straight in the eye and say they are doing it “for the good of the country”.
Two recent political events have marked the year 2007 as the Year of the Trapos. One is the instant pardon of Erap Estrada who was found guilty of plunder. Then comes the recent efforts of Gloria Arroyo to once again stop a genuine impeachment against her…at all costs.
Pardon me, Madame Gloria
First, let’s track back a little to Arroyo’s pardon of Erap Estrada. I do not know, but this recent action of Arroyo has sort of sent 1000 volts of electricity up my spine. I felt numbness. Disbelief. Anger. And a hint of hopelessness.
For how could you forgive somebody found guilty of plunder but has not even acknowledged his wrongdoing? How could you forget a crime when the criminal has not even owned up to his offense?
It’s not that I don’t expect Gloria Arroyo to be capable of such hideous trapoliticking. But it’s more of a shock that it is indeed happening. It’s like as time goes by under this administration, the Filipino nation is getting buried deeper and deeper into this pit of unprincipled politics.
In writing this article I am even at a loss as to how to approach the issue. The reason is that in any angle you view it; this current move of the fake president is simply revoltingly repulsive (or repulsively revolting)! It was simply a pardon granted without any single grain of wisdom. Well, apart of course from the motive of self-preservation.
Yes, that is a crystal clear fact – that this pardon of Erap is nothing more than Arroyo’s scheme of ensuring her stay in power. Arroyo is simply trying to appease a section of the ever growing opposition to her administration – a tactic to divide those calling for her immediate removal from office.
When national policies are made to simply satisfy the interests of a politician then we have a problem. When a presidential power is used for the sole purpose of satisfying a whim of a trapo President then we have a big problem.
The spirit of the law, impeached
Now let us go to the issue of the recent efforts of Arroyo to once again stop a genuine impeachment against her.
The removal of a dishonest, abusive and corrupt President is an inherent power of the people from whom all the government powers emanates. This power to remove a President is delegated to Congress through the process of impeachment. This, in essence, is a mechanism to ensure the accountability of the leader of the land to the people through a body which is representative of them.
Now, an impeachment proceeding should be initiated in the Lower House and under the House rules, only one impeachment case can be filed against the same impeachable official within a year. This limitation is supposed to prevent a harassment of impeachment cases against a President who is assumed to be working for the country.
Gloria Arroyo however is using this rule to make a mockery of our constitution and our laws. By simply having one of her cohorts file a weak case against her she manages to give herself another year of getting away with mounting crimes against the nation.
The sadder fact is that a lot of Congress Representatives are in connivance with Malacañang in this scheme. Despite the existence of strong evidence against Arroyo, these shameful people we call “honorable” have several times terminated the impeachment proceedings for mere technicalities taking advantage of the same weak case that one of their accomplices filed.
The spirit of the law is unashamedly disregarded by these trapos to simply make sure that their benefactor remains in power. For them, implementing the spirit of the law is not as important as making sure that the hand that feeds their pocket is safe and sound.
If the Supreme Court doesn’t make a corrective stand on this issue then down the drain our nation go.
(Send your comments and reactions to: for text messages to 0919-348-6337; for e-mails to ianseruelo@gmail.com.)
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Irony of all ironies!
“It’s a black fly on your Chardonnay
It’s a death row pardon two minutes too late…”
- from “Ironic” by Alanis Morissette
I read in a previous issue of this paper that Mayor Treñas is leaving for Korea. Treñas will attend a three-day meeting of the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI). I did a research on this initiative and this particular meeting and I found out some interesting information.
According to its web site ICLEI “is an international association of local governments and national and regional local government organizations that have made a commitment to sustainable development.” I would like to highlight “sustainable development” which our mayor seems not to understand very well.
ICLEI partners with United Nations in different programs and was actually founded in the UN headquarters in New York. This group supports the environmental initiatives of the UN and the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). IPCC, composed of scientists from all over the world, declared in a recent conference that human activity is the main cause of global warming and highlighted fossil burning activities (coal plants) among others.
I commend ICLEI for its laudable objectives and its global efforts to tackle global environmental issues particularly global warming to the level of local governments. In fact, this meeting in Jeju, Korea will “address the future role of local governments in the international effort to tackle climate change.”
The website http://www.iclei.org/ is indeed very impressive and informative. It features efforts of local governments from different cities to combat global warming, stories about renewable sources of energy and conferences on this and that environmentally-sound alternatives.
Of course here in Iloilo City, our local government’s effort is promoting the construction of a coal plant! And by the way, Treñas is a current member of ICLEI’s Executive Committee “that oversee the implementation of the Strategic Plan and ICLEI operations”. Tsk ,tsk, now you understand why I have that title in this article.
* * * * *
By the way I prepared a short speech for Treñas to deliver in the ICLEI meeting. Please read below.
Today we have gathered here as members of the Executive Committee of ICLEI to tackle our role as local government executives in the issue of climate change. Indeed we have a big role as we are the grassroots leaders in our communities.
We should continue to promote sustainable development. The development that can sustain our political careers and our pockets. What use is development if we are without power?” (Big smile)
That is why in my beloved city, the City of Iloilo, I am supporting the building of a coal fired power plant. And yes this proposed coal plant will be very clean as it will utilize what the proponents say as the “clean coal technology”. Sounds hi-tech, right?
I really believe them because they are my friends. In fact they even gave me a nice treat – an all-expense paid trip to Taiwan, among other gifts! (Wink, wink...) But of course it was to view a coal plant, a study trip. And my, oh my, I loved the beaches in Taiwan. But then again it was a study trip and yes I learned a lot about coal plants!
Despite of volumes of studies that document the hazards of coal plants, I now believe the proponents when they say coal plants are clean. Why? Because they are my friends! And we should trust our friends, right?
Further, when I went to Taiwan, the coal plant emissions are colorless, odorless, and tasteless. Yes I went up the plant’s smoke stack, smelled and tasted the emissions. It was fun climbing up and down the ladder, by the way.
Anyway, what I am trying to point out here is that what you cannot see, smell or taste could not possibly hurt you. Right? How scientific could you get? I actually failed in my high school chemistry class (if my memory serves me right) but heck, I am the mayor now and mayors don’t need chemistry.
And when I was there I never heard anybody cough or I never saw a sickly person. So I declare that coal plant emissions cannot cause asthma or cancer. I’m very observant, right? I knew it I could have been a good scientist.
Now, I appeal to you in behalf of my coal plant friends. Let us declare the building of coal plants as sustainable development projects.
Let us ignore the opinion of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Food and Drug Administration, the studies by Harvard School of Public Health and many other institutions that detail the hazards of coal plants to the environment and to people’s health.
Let us ignore the declaration of UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that point to burning fossil fuels, majority of which from coal plants, as the culprit in climate change.
As a member of this executive committee, I move that we declare all those scientists to be anti-development and adopt my scientific methods as the new standards.
This is, ladies and gentlemen, our role as local government executives in the issue of climate change. I, thank you. (Bow!)
It’s a death row pardon two minutes too late…”
- from “Ironic” by Alanis Morissette
I read in a previous issue of this paper that Mayor Treñas is leaving for Korea. Treñas will attend a three-day meeting of the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI). I did a research on this initiative and this particular meeting and I found out some interesting information.
According to its web site ICLEI “is an international association of local governments and national and regional local government organizations that have made a commitment to sustainable development.” I would like to highlight “sustainable development” which our mayor seems not to understand very well.
ICLEI partners with United Nations in different programs and was actually founded in the UN headquarters in New York. This group supports the environmental initiatives of the UN and the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). IPCC, composed of scientists from all over the world, declared in a recent conference that human activity is the main cause of global warming and highlighted fossil burning activities (coal plants) among others.
I commend ICLEI for its laudable objectives and its global efforts to tackle global environmental issues particularly global warming to the level of local governments. In fact, this meeting in Jeju, Korea will “address the future role of local governments in the international effort to tackle climate change.”
The website http://www.iclei.org/ is indeed very impressive and informative. It features efforts of local governments from different cities to combat global warming, stories about renewable sources of energy and conferences on this and that environmentally-sound alternatives.
Of course here in Iloilo City, our local government’s effort is promoting the construction of a coal plant! And by the way, Treñas is a current member of ICLEI’s Executive Committee “that oversee the implementation of the Strategic Plan and ICLEI operations”. Tsk ,tsk, now you understand why I have that title in this article.
* * * * *
By the way I prepared a short speech for Treñas to deliver in the ICLEI meeting. Please read below.
Today we have gathered here as members of the Executive Committee of ICLEI to tackle our role as local government executives in the issue of climate change. Indeed we have a big role as we are the grassroots leaders in our communities.
We should continue to promote sustainable development. The development that can sustain our political careers and our pockets. What use is development if we are without power?” (Big smile)
That is why in my beloved city, the City of Iloilo, I am supporting the building of a coal fired power plant. And yes this proposed coal plant will be very clean as it will utilize what the proponents say as the “clean coal technology”. Sounds hi-tech, right?
I really believe them because they are my friends. In fact they even gave me a nice treat – an all-expense paid trip to Taiwan, among other gifts! (Wink, wink...) But of course it was to view a coal plant, a study trip. And my, oh my, I loved the beaches in Taiwan. But then again it was a study trip and yes I learned a lot about coal plants!
Despite of volumes of studies that document the hazards of coal plants, I now believe the proponents when they say coal plants are clean. Why? Because they are my friends! And we should trust our friends, right?
Further, when I went to Taiwan, the coal plant emissions are colorless, odorless, and tasteless. Yes I went up the plant’s smoke stack, smelled and tasted the emissions. It was fun climbing up and down the ladder, by the way.
Anyway, what I am trying to point out here is that what you cannot see, smell or taste could not possibly hurt you. Right? How scientific could you get? I actually failed in my high school chemistry class (if my memory serves me right) but heck, I am the mayor now and mayors don’t need chemistry.
And when I was there I never heard anybody cough or I never saw a sickly person. So I declare that coal plant emissions cannot cause asthma or cancer. I’m very observant, right? I knew it I could have been a good scientist.
Now, I appeal to you in behalf of my coal plant friends. Let us declare the building of coal plants as sustainable development projects.
Let us ignore the opinion of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Food and Drug Administration, the studies by Harvard School of Public Health and many other institutions that detail the hazards of coal plants to the environment and to people’s health.
Let us ignore the declaration of UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that point to burning fossil fuels, majority of which from coal plants, as the culprit in climate change.
As a member of this executive committee, I move that we declare all those scientists to be anti-development and adopt my scientific methods as the new standards.
This is, ladies and gentlemen, our role as local government executives in the issue of climate change. I, thank you. (Bow!)
Monday, October 15, 2007
Of Coal Plants and Junkets
“Integrity has no need of rules.”
– Albert Camus
If your bathroom were sparkling and spotless would you clean it? Would you wash the dishes when you know they are already clean?
If the current technology used in coal plants is “clean” why is it that up to now there are ongoing technological researches on how to make the same technology become environmentally friendly?
In the global scene, why is the power industry talking about burying coal plants emissions and implement what they call the CCS or the carbon (CO2) capture and storage?
Among other mitigating efforts to ease environmental impact, why is it that options including gasification of coal are now being laid on the table on coal power plant designs?
Simply put, if “clean coal” is indeed “clean” why the need to make it clean?
Well, coal plant proponents will say: “Current coal technology is clean and ongoing studies are geared towards making it more environment friendly.
That does not make sense! Why make it more environment friendly if it is already clean? If you say you want it to be “MORE environment friendly”, then you are claiming that it is already “environment friendly”. But is it?
If the technology is environment friendly then there should be no talk on how to mitigate the harmful emissions and noxious hazards of coal plants. But the fact that they cannot deny is – there is!
“Clean Coal” – revoltingly contradictory
Now, why call it “clean” when in actuality it is not? Why are they not accepting in public that indeed coal plants harm the environment and human health?
Why is there no admission from proponents that coal plants, including those using circulating fluidized bed (CFB), account for the biggest toxic emissions (sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, mercury, etc.) in the planet?
Now, coal plant proponents will say: “Well one more coal plant here in Iloilo will not really make things worse. Further, it is only one additional plant and the impact may be negligible. And after all we need more power for the region’s development.
To the question: “Is ‘clean coal technology’ really clean?” does it really matter if the percent of additional pollution is small compared to the whole? Does it really matter if the hazards will be felt in 1 year, in 10 years or in 50 years?
The answer is “NO”. This technology that they are pushing is plainly NOT CLEAN – that is the simple message, no matter how they distort the facts. The term “clean coal technology” is a misnomer – grossly misleading and revoltingly contradictory.
Further, apart from it being a contributor to the planetary scourge of global warming, this coal plant will be a threat in the smaller regional scale. This coal plant, CFB or otherwise, that they want to build here in Iloilo poses serious hazards to our environment and to the population’s health.
On the need for additional power, many studies have shown superior renewable alternatives – options that embody the concept of sustainable development that this column has covered in the past.
Study trips or disguised bribe?
This leads me now to a separate but related issue – the question of legality and propriety of the “study trips” of our “honorable” city officials that were sponsored by the very proponent of a coal plant project in the City of Iloilo.
Mayor Treñas, Vice Mayor Mabilog and several City Councilors went to Taiwan allegedly to visit coal plants as arranged by the proponent. The trip and all expenses were shouldered by Global Business Power Corp. (GBPC), owner of Panay Power Corporation (PPC) whose proposing a 100 MW coal plant in Lapaz, Iloilo City.
In the legal front, RISE or the Responsible Ilonggos for Renewable Energy, through FDC chairperson Roming Gerochi is right on target in filing charges against Mayor Treñas for accepting this sponsored junket.
In the RISE complaint filed before the Office of the Ombudsman, Treñas is accused of violating Republic Act 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees. Section 7 (d) of the Act stipulates the following:
“Solicitation or acceptance of gifts. - Public officials and employees shall not solicit or accept, directly or indirectly, any gift, gratuity, favor, entertainment, loan or anything of monetary value from any person in the course of their official duties or in connection with any operation being regulated by, or any transaction which may be affected by the functions of their office.”
Clearly, Treñas (and the others) violated this provision. What’s funny is that in news reports this supposedly lawyer Mayor justifies his action by saying that “the proponents are not contractors or suppliers for projects of the city government”.
Further he said “his trip cannot be covered by prohibitions of the law because the coal-plant project does not need the approval of the city government”.
Nowhere in RA 6713 exempts a public official under the circumstances mentioned by Treñas. The actual quote of Section 7 (d) of the law above is very clear and is to be applied in a general manner as stressed in the phrase “in connection with…any transaction which may be affected by the functions of their office”.
Is it not that making the city and its environment safe a function of their office? Is it not that the health of Iloilo City residents a part of the function of their office? Is issuing a business permit to PPC and ensuring that PPC is operating with the best interest of the City not a part of the function of their office?
Is it not their function to objectively study and make a stand on such important issue as the building of a coal plant right in the middle of the city? So how can Iloilo City residents now expect that their City officials will be objective and be on the side of the City’s environment and people’s health when it comes to the issue of the building of a coal plant?
What happened to integrity?
Treñas, Mabilog and these councilors should know better. As public officials, they should ensure that their actions and position on issues is beyond reproach. They should not allow their office to be tarnished by such mindless action.
To remind our “honorable” public officials, below is the “Declaration of Policies” of RA 6713:
“It is the policy of the State to promote a high standard of ethics in public service. Public officials and employees shall at all times be accountable to the people and shall discharge their duties with utmost responsibility, integrity…”
Actually, even without RA 6713 or any law, common sense will tell you that as public officials, accepting this junket is plainly inappropriate. This is in fact not only a question of law but more so a question of integrity.
But well maybe I am expecting so much from our public officials. Maybe common sense and integrity are characteristics that are really not that common among these politicians.
* * * * * *
Happy 30th Anniversary to UP in the Visayas’ Validus Amicitia Brotherhood! Congratulations for thirty years of powerful friendship. More power, amigos!
– Albert Camus
If your bathroom were sparkling and spotless would you clean it? Would you wash the dishes when you know they are already clean?
If the current technology used in coal plants is “clean” why is it that up to now there are ongoing technological researches on how to make the same technology become environmentally friendly?
In the global scene, why is the power industry talking about burying coal plants emissions and implement what they call the CCS or the carbon (CO2) capture and storage?
Among other mitigating efforts to ease environmental impact, why is it that options including gasification of coal are now being laid on the table on coal power plant designs?
Simply put, if “clean coal” is indeed “clean” why the need to make it clean?
Well, coal plant proponents will say: “Current coal technology is clean and ongoing studies are geared towards making it more environment friendly.
That does not make sense! Why make it more environment friendly if it is already clean? If you say you want it to be “MORE environment friendly”, then you are claiming that it is already “environment friendly”. But is it?
If the technology is environment friendly then there should be no talk on how to mitigate the harmful emissions and noxious hazards of coal plants. But the fact that they cannot deny is – there is!
“Clean Coal” – revoltingly contradictory
Now, why call it “clean” when in actuality it is not? Why are they not accepting in public that indeed coal plants harm the environment and human health?
Why is there no admission from proponents that coal plants, including those using circulating fluidized bed (CFB), account for the biggest toxic emissions (sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, mercury, etc.) in the planet?
Now, coal plant proponents will say: “Well one more coal plant here in Iloilo will not really make things worse. Further, it is only one additional plant and the impact may be negligible. And after all we need more power for the region’s development.
To the question: “Is ‘clean coal technology’ really clean?” does it really matter if the percent of additional pollution is small compared to the whole? Does it really matter if the hazards will be felt in 1 year, in 10 years or in 50 years?
The answer is “NO”. This technology that they are pushing is plainly NOT CLEAN – that is the simple message, no matter how they distort the facts. The term “clean coal technology” is a misnomer – grossly misleading and revoltingly contradictory.
Further, apart from it being a contributor to the planetary scourge of global warming, this coal plant will be a threat in the smaller regional scale. This coal plant, CFB or otherwise, that they want to build here in Iloilo poses serious hazards to our environment and to the population’s health.
On the need for additional power, many studies have shown superior renewable alternatives – options that embody the concept of sustainable development that this column has covered in the past.
Study trips or disguised bribe?
This leads me now to a separate but related issue – the question of legality and propriety of the “study trips” of our “honorable” city officials that were sponsored by the very proponent of a coal plant project in the City of Iloilo.
Mayor Treñas, Vice Mayor Mabilog and several City Councilors went to Taiwan allegedly to visit coal plants as arranged by the proponent. The trip and all expenses were shouldered by Global Business Power Corp. (GBPC), owner of Panay Power Corporation (PPC) whose proposing a 100 MW coal plant in Lapaz, Iloilo City.
In the legal front, RISE or the Responsible Ilonggos for Renewable Energy, through FDC chairperson Roming Gerochi is right on target in filing charges against Mayor Treñas for accepting this sponsored junket.
In the RISE complaint filed before the Office of the Ombudsman, Treñas is accused of violating Republic Act 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees. Section 7 (d) of the Act stipulates the following:
“Solicitation or acceptance of gifts. - Public officials and employees shall not solicit or accept, directly or indirectly, any gift, gratuity, favor, entertainment, loan or anything of monetary value from any person in the course of their official duties or in connection with any operation being regulated by, or any transaction which may be affected by the functions of their office.”
Clearly, Treñas (and the others) violated this provision. What’s funny is that in news reports this supposedly lawyer Mayor justifies his action by saying that “the proponents are not contractors or suppliers for projects of the city government”.
Further he said “his trip cannot be covered by prohibitions of the law because the coal-plant project does not need the approval of the city government”.
Nowhere in RA 6713 exempts a public official under the circumstances mentioned by Treñas. The actual quote of Section 7 (d) of the law above is very clear and is to be applied in a general manner as stressed in the phrase “in connection with…any transaction which may be affected by the functions of their office”.
Is it not that making the city and its environment safe a function of their office? Is it not that the health of Iloilo City residents a part of the function of their office? Is issuing a business permit to PPC and ensuring that PPC is operating with the best interest of the City not a part of the function of their office?
Is it not their function to objectively study and make a stand on such important issue as the building of a coal plant right in the middle of the city? So how can Iloilo City residents now expect that their City officials will be objective and be on the side of the City’s environment and people’s health when it comes to the issue of the building of a coal plant?
What happened to integrity?
Treñas, Mabilog and these councilors should know better. As public officials, they should ensure that their actions and position on issues is beyond reproach. They should not allow their office to be tarnished by such mindless action.
To remind our “honorable” public officials, below is the “Declaration of Policies” of RA 6713:
“It is the policy of the State to promote a high standard of ethics in public service. Public officials and employees shall at all times be accountable to the people and shall discharge their duties with utmost responsibility, integrity…”
Actually, even without RA 6713 or any law, common sense will tell you that as public officials, accepting this junket is plainly inappropriate. This is in fact not only a question of law but more so a question of integrity.
But well maybe I am expecting so much from our public officials. Maybe common sense and integrity are characteristics that are really not that common among these politicians.
* * * * * *
Happy 30th Anniversary to UP in the Visayas’ Validus Amicitia Brotherhood! Congratulations for thirty years of powerful friendship. More power, amigos!
Saturday, October 06, 2007
Gloria’s 7 Social Sins
“The cause of liberty becomes a mockery if the price to be paid
is the wholesale destruction of those who are to enjoy liberty.”
- by Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi would have been very happy to witness the presentation of a scroll containing his very own “Seven Social Sins” to Gloria Arroyo on her recent visit to India. While addressed to society as a whole, Gandhi’s “Seven Social Sins” is actually very appropriate reading for unscrupulous politicians like Arroyo.
We sure hope that Gandhi’s words of wisdom could penetrate the callous hearts of these trapos (traditional politicians). Of course that is granting that these rotten politicians still have the conscience left to see beyond their own interests.
Now, here are the seven social sins as proclaimed by the great Mahatma Gandhi: (1) Wealth Without Work, (2) Pleasure Without Conscience, (3) Knowledge Without Character, (4) Commerce Without Morality, (5) Science Without Humanity, (6) Religion Without Sacrifice, and (7) Politics Without Principle.
Here are some of my reflections on these social sins as exemplified by Gloria Arroyo, her husband Jose Miguel Arroyo and their cohorts.
Wealth Without Work. Gloria Arroyo and her husband have exhibited this numerous times already. Recent example would be the controversial NBN project. This power couple is trying to broker a P15 billion project, earn hefty kickbacks in the process by simply using the office the President. Sa-ching! Easy money!
Pleasure Without Conscience. An example of this was Gloria’s ambition to be the President of the country at all costs. As captured in her famous “Hello Garci” conversations, she would even agree to let Garci and men kidnap a poor teacher whose a witness to her election cheating in Mindanao. All in the name of pleasure to be the “elected” President of the Philippines!
Knowledge Without Character. Gloria sure has lots of knowledge given her economist (kuno) background. However this knowledge is useless if she continues to ignore the basic concepts of economic equity and social justice.
Commerce Without Morality. This is exemplified by the many business deals Arroyo and friends brokered with the Philippine government to corner handsome contracts. Also let us not forget Jose Pidal who stashed away millions in deposits in controversial deals with the Arroyo government.
Science Without Humanity. Well, what could be a better example than implementing a high technology project such as the national broadband project? This project will result in millions more of additional debt for the Filipinos (not to mention millions more of kickbacks for Gloria and husband!). Gloria said this would enable students even in the remotest municipalities to access the Internet and learn. Yeah right! Students who have barely anything to eat or do not even have a decent classroom are so excited to browse the worldwide web.
Religion Without Sacrifice. Like many other politicians, Gloria Arroyo has the propensity to project a religious image especially during election period. These trapos summon the support of the Cardinals, the pastors, the priests, the imams and what have you, as they present themselves as god-fearing individuals. Old tricks but the sad fact is, it works!
Politics Without Principle. Now, in this last one Gloria Arroyo would receive the highest honors. I don’t know if I still need to give an instance. Examples are all over the place! Go figure.
is the wholesale destruction of those who are to enjoy liberty.”
- by Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi would have been very happy to witness the presentation of a scroll containing his very own “Seven Social Sins” to Gloria Arroyo on her recent visit to India. While addressed to society as a whole, Gandhi’s “Seven Social Sins” is actually very appropriate reading for unscrupulous politicians like Arroyo.
We sure hope that Gandhi’s words of wisdom could penetrate the callous hearts of these trapos (traditional politicians). Of course that is granting that these rotten politicians still have the conscience left to see beyond their own interests.
Now, here are the seven social sins as proclaimed by the great Mahatma Gandhi: (1) Wealth Without Work, (2) Pleasure Without Conscience, (3) Knowledge Without Character, (4) Commerce Without Morality, (5) Science Without Humanity, (6) Religion Without Sacrifice, and (7) Politics Without Principle.
Here are some of my reflections on these social sins as exemplified by Gloria Arroyo, her husband Jose Miguel Arroyo and their cohorts.
Wealth Without Work. Gloria Arroyo and her husband have exhibited this numerous times already. Recent example would be the controversial NBN project. This power couple is trying to broker a P15 billion project, earn hefty kickbacks in the process by simply using the office the President. Sa-ching! Easy money!
Pleasure Without Conscience. An example of this was Gloria’s ambition to be the President of the country at all costs. As captured in her famous “Hello Garci” conversations, she would even agree to let Garci and men kidnap a poor teacher whose a witness to her election cheating in Mindanao. All in the name of pleasure to be the “elected” President of the Philippines!
Knowledge Without Character. Gloria sure has lots of knowledge given her economist (kuno) background. However this knowledge is useless if she continues to ignore the basic concepts of economic equity and social justice.
Commerce Without Morality. This is exemplified by the many business deals Arroyo and friends brokered with the Philippine government to corner handsome contracts. Also let us not forget Jose Pidal who stashed away millions in deposits in controversial deals with the Arroyo government.
Science Without Humanity. Well, what could be a better example than implementing a high technology project such as the national broadband project? This project will result in millions more of additional debt for the Filipinos (not to mention millions more of kickbacks for Gloria and husband!). Gloria said this would enable students even in the remotest municipalities to access the Internet and learn. Yeah right! Students who have barely anything to eat or do not even have a decent classroom are so excited to browse the worldwide web.
Religion Without Sacrifice. Like many other politicians, Gloria Arroyo has the propensity to project a religious image especially during election period. These trapos summon the support of the Cardinals, the pastors, the priests, the imams and what have you, as they present themselves as god-fearing individuals. Old tricks but the sad fact is, it works!
Politics Without Principle. Now, in this last one Gloria Arroyo would receive the highest honors. I don’t know if I still need to give an instance. Examples are all over the place! Go figure.
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Suspension of NBN project not enough
“They said it changes when the sun goes down
Over the river going out of town…”
- from “When the Sun Goes Down” by Arctic Monkeys
The kickback-laden ZTE-NBN broadband project has been suspended. This controversial project will cost $329.5 million – that is, ladies and gentlemen, equivalent to almost P15 billion (yup, that’s 15 with 9 zeroes!) at the current exchange rate!
But why was the project suspended? Is it because it was tainted with corruption? Or is it to prevent more stink from coming out? Did Gloria Arroyo wake up one morning and realized the contract is unfair to the government? Or is she trying to save her behind by protecting her husband’s behind?
No doubt this action by the administration is an effort to contain the can of worms that was opened to the public. This is an attempt to diffuse the public anger against the personalities involved in brokering the deal – no less than Gloria’s husband and their corrupt gang – in fact against Malacañang itself.
By all indications this project is nothing but a giant milking cow. This is like the mother (or father) of all kickbacks! With all the problems facing our country and with very low budget for even the basic social services, I cannot fathom the callousness of this P15 billion project.
Yes, a broadband network would make communication among government agencies more efficient. And they claim this will improve government services, which I doubt by the way (but this is another story).
But is this the only way to do it? Can’t we live without it? No, in fact many developed nations and major cities all over the world do not have broadband connectivity. This is comparable to wearing Prada and sporting the slickest cellphone while your stomach grumbles in hunger.
The correct question would be – Do we have to prioritize this project over the more pressing problems of poverty, inaccessible education, unemployment and housing? Just imagine how many classroom buildings we can build with P15 billion additional budget to education. Or think of the number of lives that will be saved with investing this P15 billion to health care.
I think this project should not only be suspended but deserves to be thrown directly into the nearest thrash can. For what is likely to happen is that Arroyo will simply wait for the public opposition to the project to die down and then revive the contract. We know that these greedy, scheming trapos (traditional politicians) will do anything to make their pockets heavier.
The Senate should pursue the investigation of the anomalies surrounding this deal. Suspending the contract should not result to the hiding of the facts of culpability of government officials and personalities involved.
(Send your comments and reactions to: for text messages to 0919-348-6337; for e-mails to ianseruelo@gmail.com)
Over the river going out of town…”
- from “When the Sun Goes Down” by Arctic Monkeys
The kickback-laden ZTE-NBN broadband project has been suspended. This controversial project will cost $329.5 million – that is, ladies and gentlemen, equivalent to almost P15 billion (yup, that’s 15 with 9 zeroes!) at the current exchange rate!
But why was the project suspended? Is it because it was tainted with corruption? Or is it to prevent more stink from coming out? Did Gloria Arroyo wake up one morning and realized the contract is unfair to the government? Or is she trying to save her behind by protecting her husband’s behind?
No doubt this action by the administration is an effort to contain the can of worms that was opened to the public. This is an attempt to diffuse the public anger against the personalities involved in brokering the deal – no less than Gloria’s husband and their corrupt gang – in fact against Malacañang itself.
By all indications this project is nothing but a giant milking cow. This is like the mother (or father) of all kickbacks! With all the problems facing our country and with very low budget for even the basic social services, I cannot fathom the callousness of this P15 billion project.
Yes, a broadband network would make communication among government agencies more efficient. And they claim this will improve government services, which I doubt by the way (but this is another story).
But is this the only way to do it? Can’t we live without it? No, in fact many developed nations and major cities all over the world do not have broadband connectivity. This is comparable to wearing Prada and sporting the slickest cellphone while your stomach grumbles in hunger.
The correct question would be – Do we have to prioritize this project over the more pressing problems of poverty, inaccessible education, unemployment and housing? Just imagine how many classroom buildings we can build with P15 billion additional budget to education. Or think of the number of lives that will be saved with investing this P15 billion to health care.
I think this project should not only be suspended but deserves to be thrown directly into the nearest thrash can. For what is likely to happen is that Arroyo will simply wait for the public opposition to the project to die down and then revive the contract. We know that these greedy, scheming trapos (traditional politicians) will do anything to make their pockets heavier.
The Senate should pursue the investigation of the anomalies surrounding this deal. Suspending the contract should not result to the hiding of the facts of culpability of government officials and personalities involved.
(Send your comments and reactions to: for text messages to 0919-348-6337; for e-mails to ianseruelo@gmail.com)
Why remove Raul’s posters?
“The great corrupter of public man (and woman) is the ego....
Looking at the mirror distracts one's attention from the problem.”
- Dean Acheson
I read a news article about the justification of the removal of the DOJ posters from the walls of the Hall of Justice. The DOJ poster bears the image of the great Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales.
They said that the face of great Raul in the posters were vandalized with mustache and beard and even horns! When the Hall of Justice’s maintenance office received the communication that Chief Justice Renato Puno is scheduled to visit, then they decided to remove all those “redesigned”posters. They claim that the posters are not presentable anymore.
This column condemns those unfounded action and demand that those posters be pasted back to the walls of the Hall of Justice! Remove all the other posters that they want but certainly not Raul’s posters! Removing those posters is tantamount to a mockery of justice. And they can afford to do that with the image of the Justice himself? They are violating a basic freedom guaranteed by the constitution! This is a big farce!
First, those posters were paid for by the Filipino taxpayers. It was the people’s money that was utilized in the printing of such magnificent narcissistic posters. We spent for the printing of the poster, why remove it? Posters are meant to be, well, posted.
Second, they should respect whatever markings are on the posters for that is a part of its overall aesthetic value. It is a work of art in progress. Don’t they understand that the ordinary Filipino paid for the printing of the posters and now are contributing their artistic talents to make the posters even more appealing, informative and mind tickling?
Lastly and more important – the beard, mustache and the horns are actually appropriate, very fitting! Look at the track record of Raul – his brave lawyering for the American soldier rapist stationed in Subic, his colorful anti-women remarks and attitude, his many anti-people actions and positions plus his unquestioning and undying support to a fake and corrupt administration.
Beards and mustache characterize villains. So what wrong with that? Horns, well, devils wear them – it will portray somebody as evil, or sinister, or dreadful, creepy or simply horrible! So what’s the big deal?
To all readers lets us start a signature campaign to bring all those posters back! No, I do not mean that they replace them with new ones. We want exactly those same posters that they removed. We want the PNP and the NBI in coordination with the FBI, the CIA and the Interpol to determine the location of the posters and bring them back immediately! If needed let us elevate this issue to Congress or maybe to the International Court of Justice. Can anybody draft a position paper?
(Send your comments and reactions to: for text messages to 0919-348-6337; for e-mails to ianseruelo@gmail.com)
Looking at the mirror distracts one's attention from the problem.”
- Dean Acheson
I read a news article about the justification of the removal of the DOJ posters from the walls of the Hall of Justice. The DOJ poster bears the image of the great Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales.
They said that the face of great Raul in the posters were vandalized with mustache and beard and even horns! When the Hall of Justice’s maintenance office received the communication that Chief Justice Renato Puno is scheduled to visit, then they decided to remove all those “redesigned”posters. They claim that the posters are not presentable anymore.
This column condemns those unfounded action and demand that those posters be pasted back to the walls of the Hall of Justice! Remove all the other posters that they want but certainly not Raul’s posters! Removing those posters is tantamount to a mockery of justice. And they can afford to do that with the image of the Justice himself? They are violating a basic freedom guaranteed by the constitution! This is a big farce!
First, those posters were paid for by the Filipino taxpayers. It was the people’s money that was utilized in the printing of such magnificent narcissistic posters. We spent for the printing of the poster, why remove it? Posters are meant to be, well, posted.
Second, they should respect whatever markings are on the posters for that is a part of its overall aesthetic value. It is a work of art in progress. Don’t they understand that the ordinary Filipino paid for the printing of the posters and now are contributing their artistic talents to make the posters even more appealing, informative and mind tickling?
Lastly and more important – the beard, mustache and the horns are actually appropriate, very fitting! Look at the track record of Raul – his brave lawyering for the American soldier rapist stationed in Subic, his colorful anti-women remarks and attitude, his many anti-people actions and positions plus his unquestioning and undying support to a fake and corrupt administration.
Beards and mustache characterize villains. So what wrong with that? Horns, well, devils wear them – it will portray somebody as evil, or sinister, or dreadful, creepy or simply horrible! So what’s the big deal?
To all readers lets us start a signature campaign to bring all those posters back! No, I do not mean that they replace them with new ones. We want exactly those same posters that they removed. We want the PNP and the NBI in coordination with the FBI, the CIA and the Interpol to determine the location of the posters and bring them back immediately! If needed let us elevate this issue to Congress or maybe to the International Court of Justice. Can anybody draft a position paper?
(Send your comments and reactions to: for text messages to 0919-348-6337; for e-mails to ianseruelo@gmail.com)
Not a 9/11 poem
“One death is a tragedy. A million deaths is a statistic.”
- Josef Stalin
It’s almost 9/11. This date is probably the most “recall-able” date in world history. It marked the mourning of the world for the victims of the terrorist attack that brought down the twin towers of New York.
While we always remember the more than 4,000 victims of 9/11, the irony is we tend to forget the thousands and the millions more of people who died from other bigger human-caused tragedies. Atrocities of governments and people in power such as wars of aggression that led to death tolls we simply leave to statisticians to record.
In the anniversary of 9/11 I would like to yield this space to a very meaningful piece of poetry below. Let us pause for a moment of silence, not only for the deaths of 9/11, but for all victims of intolerance, discrimination, exploitation and greed.
* * * * *
A MOMENT OF SILENCE
BEFORE I START THIS POEM
by Emanuel Ortiz
11 September 2002
Before I start this poem, I'd like to ask you to join me
In a moment of silence
In honour of those who died in the World Trade Center and the Pentagon last September 11th. I would also like to ask you To offer up a moment of silence For all of those who have been harassed, imprisoned, disappeared, tortured, raped, or killed in retaliation for those strikes, For the victims in both Afghanistan and the US.
And if I could just add one more thing...
A full day of silence
For the tens of thousands of Palestinians who have died at the hands of US-backed Israeli forces over decades of occupation. Six months of silence for the million and-a-half Iraqi people, mostly children, who have died of malnourishment or starvation as a result of an 11-year US embargo against the country.
Before I begin this poem,
Two months of silence for the Blacks under Apartheid in South Africa, Where homeland security made them aliens in their own country. Nine months of silence for the dead in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Where death rained down and peeled back every layer of concrete, steel, earth and skin And the survivors went on as if alive. A year of silence for the millions of dead in Vietnam - a people, not a war - for those who know a thing or two about the scent of burning fuel, their relatives' bones buried in it, their babies born of it. A year of silence for the dead in Cambodia and Laos, victims of a secret war .... ssssshhhhh.... Say nothing ... we don't want them to learn that they are dead. Two months of silence for the decades of dead in Colombia, Whose names, like the corpses they once represented, have piled up and slipped off our tongues.
Before I begin this poem.
An hour of silence for El Salvador ...
An afternoon of silence for Nicaragua ...
Two days of silence for the Guatemaltecos ...
None of whom ever knew a moment of peace in their living years. 45 seconds of silence for the 45 dead at Acteal, Chiapas 25 years of silence for the hundred million Africans who found their graves far deeper in the ocean than any building could poke into the sky. There will be no DNA testing or dental records to identify their remains. And for those who were strung and swung from the heights of sycamore trees in the south, the north, the east, and the west...
100 years of silence...
For the hundreds of millions of indigenous peoples from this half of right here,
Whose land and lives were stolen,
In postcard-perfect plots like Pine Ridge, Wounded Knee, Sand Creek, Fallen Timbers, or the Trail of Tears. Names now reduced to innocuous magnetic poetry on the refrigerator of our consciousness ...
So you want a moment of silence?
And we are all left speechless
Our tongues snatched from our mouths
Our eyes stapled shut
A moment of silence
And the poets have all been laid to rest
The drums disintegrating into dust.
Before I begin this poem,
You want a moment of silence
You mourn now as if the world will never be the same
And the rest of us hope to hell it won't be.
Not like it always has been.
Because this is not a 9/11 poem.
This is a 9/10 poem,
It is a 9/9 poem,
A 9/8 poem,
A 9/7 poem
This is a 1492 poem.
This is a poem about what causes poems like this to be written. And if this is a 9/11 poem, then: This is a September 11th poem for Chile, 1971. This is a September 12th poem for Steven Biko in South Africa, 1977. This is a September 13th poem for the brothers at Attica Prison, New York, 1971.
This is a September 14th poem for Somalia, 1992.
This is a poem for every date that falls to the ground in ashes This is a poem for the 110 stories that were never told The 110 stories that history chose not to write in textbooks The 110 stories that CNN, BBC, The New York Times, and Newsweek ignored. This is a poem for interrupting this program.
And still you want a moment of silence for your dead?
We could give you lifetimes of empty:
The unmarked graves
The lost languages
The uprooted trees and histories
The dead stares on the faces of nameless children
Before I start this poem we could be silent forever
Or just long enough to hunger,
For the dust to bury us
And you would still ask us
For more of our silence.
If you want a moment of silence
Then stop the oil pumps
Turn off the engines and the televisions
Sink the cruise ships
Crash the stock markets
Unplug the marquee lights,
Delete the instant messages,
Derail the trains, the light rail transit.
If you want a moment of silence, put a brick through the window of Taco Bell, And pay the workers for wages lost. Tear down the liquor stores, The townhouses, the White Houses, the jailhouses, the Penthouses and the Playboys.
If you want a moment of silence,
Then take it
On Super Bowl Sunday,
The Fourth of July
During Dayton's 13 hour sale
Or the next time your white guilt fills the room where my beautiful
people have gathered.
You want a moment of silence
Then take it NOW,
Before this poem begins.
Here, in the echo of my voice,
In the pause between goosesteps of the second hand,
In the space between bodies in embrace,
Here is your silence.
Take it.
But take it all... Don't cut in line.
Let your silence begin at the beginning of crime. But we, Tonight we will keep right on singing... For our dead.
(Send your comments and reactions to: for text messages to 0919-348-6337; for e-mails to ianseruelo@gmail.com)
- Josef Stalin
It’s almost 9/11. This date is probably the most “recall-able” date in world history. It marked the mourning of the world for the victims of the terrorist attack that brought down the twin towers of New York.
While we always remember the more than 4,000 victims of 9/11, the irony is we tend to forget the thousands and the millions more of people who died from other bigger human-caused tragedies. Atrocities of governments and people in power such as wars of aggression that led to death tolls we simply leave to statisticians to record.
In the anniversary of 9/11 I would like to yield this space to a very meaningful piece of poetry below. Let us pause for a moment of silence, not only for the deaths of 9/11, but for all victims of intolerance, discrimination, exploitation and greed.
* * * * *
A MOMENT OF SILENCE
BEFORE I START THIS POEM
by Emanuel Ortiz
11 September 2002
Before I start this poem, I'd like to ask you to join me
In a moment of silence
In honour of those who died in the World Trade Center and the Pentagon last September 11th. I would also like to ask you To offer up a moment of silence For all of those who have been harassed, imprisoned, disappeared, tortured, raped, or killed in retaliation for those strikes, For the victims in both Afghanistan and the US.
And if I could just add one more thing...
A full day of silence
For the tens of thousands of Palestinians who have died at the hands of US-backed Israeli forces over decades of occupation. Six months of silence for the million and-a-half Iraqi people, mostly children, who have died of malnourishment or starvation as a result of an 11-year US embargo against the country.
Before I begin this poem,
Two months of silence for the Blacks under Apartheid in South Africa, Where homeland security made them aliens in their own country. Nine months of silence for the dead in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Where death rained down and peeled back every layer of concrete, steel, earth and skin And the survivors went on as if alive. A year of silence for the millions of dead in Vietnam - a people, not a war - for those who know a thing or two about the scent of burning fuel, their relatives' bones buried in it, their babies born of it. A year of silence for the dead in Cambodia and Laos, victims of a secret war .... ssssshhhhh.... Say nothing ... we don't want them to learn that they are dead. Two months of silence for the decades of dead in Colombia, Whose names, like the corpses they once represented, have piled up and slipped off our tongues.
Before I begin this poem.
An hour of silence for El Salvador ...
An afternoon of silence for Nicaragua ...
Two days of silence for the Guatemaltecos ...
None of whom ever knew a moment of peace in their living years. 45 seconds of silence for the 45 dead at Acteal, Chiapas 25 years of silence for the hundred million Africans who found their graves far deeper in the ocean than any building could poke into the sky. There will be no DNA testing or dental records to identify their remains. And for those who were strung and swung from the heights of sycamore trees in the south, the north, the east, and the west...
100 years of silence...
For the hundreds of millions of indigenous peoples from this half of right here,
Whose land and lives were stolen,
In postcard-perfect plots like Pine Ridge, Wounded Knee, Sand Creek, Fallen Timbers, or the Trail of Tears. Names now reduced to innocuous magnetic poetry on the refrigerator of our consciousness ...
So you want a moment of silence?
And we are all left speechless
Our tongues snatched from our mouths
Our eyes stapled shut
A moment of silence
And the poets have all been laid to rest
The drums disintegrating into dust.
Before I begin this poem,
You want a moment of silence
You mourn now as if the world will never be the same
And the rest of us hope to hell it won't be.
Not like it always has been.
Because this is not a 9/11 poem.
This is a 9/10 poem,
It is a 9/9 poem,
A 9/8 poem,
A 9/7 poem
This is a 1492 poem.
This is a poem about what causes poems like this to be written. And if this is a 9/11 poem, then: This is a September 11th poem for Chile, 1971. This is a September 12th poem for Steven Biko in South Africa, 1977. This is a September 13th poem for the brothers at Attica Prison, New York, 1971.
This is a September 14th poem for Somalia, 1992.
This is a poem for every date that falls to the ground in ashes This is a poem for the 110 stories that were never told The 110 stories that history chose not to write in textbooks The 110 stories that CNN, BBC, The New York Times, and Newsweek ignored. This is a poem for interrupting this program.
And still you want a moment of silence for your dead?
We could give you lifetimes of empty:
The unmarked graves
The lost languages
The uprooted trees and histories
The dead stares on the faces of nameless children
Before I start this poem we could be silent forever
Or just long enough to hunger,
For the dust to bury us
And you would still ask us
For more of our silence.
If you want a moment of silence
Then stop the oil pumps
Turn off the engines and the televisions
Sink the cruise ships
Crash the stock markets
Unplug the marquee lights,
Delete the instant messages,
Derail the trains, the light rail transit.
If you want a moment of silence, put a brick through the window of Taco Bell, And pay the workers for wages lost. Tear down the liquor stores, The townhouses, the White Houses, the jailhouses, the Penthouses and the Playboys.
If you want a moment of silence,
Then take it
On Super Bowl Sunday,
The Fourth of July
During Dayton's 13 hour sale
Or the next time your white guilt fills the room where my beautiful
people have gathered.
You want a moment of silence
Then take it NOW,
Before this poem begins.
Here, in the echo of my voice,
In the pause between goosesteps of the second hand,
In the space between bodies in embrace,
Here is your silence.
Take it.
But take it all... Don't cut in line.
Let your silence begin at the beginning of crime. But we, Tonight we will keep right on singing... For our dead.
(Send your comments and reactions to: for text messages to 0919-348-6337; for e-mails to ianseruelo@gmail.com)
Saturday, August 18, 2007
SONA Translation
(This article is an edited and consolidated version of two articles I wrote for my column in The News Today.)
“You come around every now and then
Your clothes are different but youre still the same
Why else would you come here?
Scumbag on a mission”
- from “Scumbag” by Green Day
Here are some quotes from the recent State of the Nation Address (SONA) of Philippine President Gloria Arroyo and my version of what she really meant. This is an attempt to translate the SONA and unmask its real meaning.
“Tapos na ang halalan at pamumulitika; panahon na para maglingkod nang walang damot, mamuno nang walang pangamba maliban sa kagalingan ng bayan, and to govern with wisdom, compassion, vision and patriotism. “
Translation: Indeed this recent election proved that Filipinos do not really like me much but always remember that I still hold the purse, ok? Tsk tsk if only I wasn’t caught talking with Garci… But anyway, you politicians should now play my game and follow my wishes. And as I have been doing before, your support will always be rewarded. Simply close your eyes and cover your ears, just always say yes to me and I will keep feeding you.
“Hangarin kong mapabilang ang Pilipinas sa mayayamang bansa sa loob ng dalawampung taon. By then poverty shall have been marginalized; and the marginalized raised to a robust middle class.”
Translation: I actually plan to stay in office for 20 more years if that would be fine with you. I promise you, in 20 years we will all be rich, but not as rich as Jose Pidal. Remember how I licked the problem of classroom shortage? All I did was simply manipulate the student to classroom ratio and instantly the problem disappeared. That is how I plan to solve poverty. I’m an economist remember, I know numbers.
“We will have achieved the hallmarks of a modern society, where institutions are strong.”
Translation: Look at how we make our state very strong. Now, anybody opposing me can very well end up with a bullet in the head or disappear into thin air. Warning to critical journalists and activists.
“With the tax reforms of the last Congress, and I thanked the last Congress, we have turned around our macroeconomic condition through fiscal discipline, toward a balanced budget. Binabayaran ang utang, pababa ang interes, at paakyat ang pondo para sa progreso ng sambayanang Pilipino!!!”
Translation: Wow, I am enjoying this! This macroeconomics is really fun! Look, I even borrowed more money than the total borrowings under Cory, Ramos and Erap! And of course, because I borrowed a lot, we were able to pay more of our old debts. Needless to say we have a lot of new debts, hehehe. But why do I care, it’s your tax money that will be used to pay for it anyway.
“First, investments in physical, intellectual, legal and security infrastructure to increase business confidence. Imprastraktura para sa negosyo at trabaho. Isang milyong trabaho taon-taon.”
Translation: As in my previous SONAs, I promised millions of jobs annually. And I am proud to say that yes I have achieved all those targets! In fact by simply paying lip service to the country’s economic needs, our government is forcing, este…causing… millions upon millions of Filipinos to be employed annually… outside of the country however, hehehe. But still you have to credit me for that, for if there are jobs here in our country, then only a few Filipinos will be able to see America or Canada.
“Second, investments in a stronger and wider social safety net - murang gamot, abot-kayang pabahay, eskwelang primera klase, mga gurong mas magaling at mas malaki ang kita, mga librong de-kalidad, more scholarships for gifted students, and language instruction to maintain our lead in English proficiency. Dunong at kalusugan ang susi sa kasaganaan.”
Translation: Health and education, that’s my priority. That is why for 2007 we budgeted P146B for education and P13B for heath care. Just don’t look at my allocation for debt servicing which, by the way, will amount to P622B. Don’t tell anybody ok? Just believe me when I say that health and education are my priorities.
“Third, investments in bringing peace to Mindanao; in crushing terrorism wherever it threatens regardless of ideology; and in putting a stop to human rights abuses whatever the excuse.”
Translation: We will crush those activists and journalists who have nothing good to do or say especially now that we have the Human Security Act. However, don’t believe those who say that my government or the military is responsible for their disappearance and assassination, ok? Or else I will have you picked up for interrogation.
“…And I am happy to see that the latest survey in June shows the hunger rate has sharply gone down nationwide. We have done that.”
Translation: I told you so, because of my expertise in economics I sure can make sense of statistics. The SWS survey said that from an all-time high of 19%, those who experience having nothing to eat at least once in a quarter went down to 14.7% in June. But as always I would not mention numbers that will contradict my “achievements”. For example, I did not say that the average for the last 37 quarters is 11.6%! So hunger actually increased under my administration. Hahaha, I am so talented!
“Para sa buong bansa naglaan tayo ng P3 billion para sa tatlong libong kilometro ng farm to market roads. Sanlibong kilometro sa Mindanao. Gawa na ang tatlong daan.”
Translation: Yes, that is a total of P3 billion: P1 billion for the roads, P1 billion for the local politicians and of course P1 billion for me! Hehe, it is really hard to be a president so I deserve it, right?
“I ask Congress to amend the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) for open access and more competition.”
Translation: You know, I hate to admit it but EPIRA is a big failure. I was the one who really lobbied for that law to be passed. I said before that EPIRA will lower power rates and will result to better service to consumers. Contrary to that however, our power rates are so high now! Salamat na lang and you are the ones paying for my power bill in Malacañang! Thanks ha…
“The Philippines ranks among top off-shoring hubs in the world because of cost competitiveness and more importantly our highly trainable, English proficient, IT-enabled management and manpower.”
Translation: We are encouraging our youth to learn English. It’s ok if you’re head is empty as long as you speak English with an American accent, di ba sosyal pakinggan! And because our minimum wage is cheap, so cheap that it’s far below the living wage, we can corner these foreign corporations to set up call centers here!
“This year, we are investing more for education: P150 billion, P29 billion more than last year.”
Translation: This is the fun part in dishing out big budgetary figures. Nobody will be able to know what part will go to which. Actually, just like our annual allocation for the education sector, more than 90% of the P150 billion will simply go to salaries of personnel and for the operating expenses of the Department of Education. So there is actually negligible budget for new schools, learning facilities and programs that will improve quality education. But don’t try to understand that non-sense, just believe me when I say that education will receive higher budget, ok?
“Kaya sa isang survey, halos kalahati ang nagsabing abot-kaya ang gamot, kumpara sa 11% noong 1999.”
Translation: Yup! I was so excited in conducting the survey myself. Imagine I went door-to-door to conduct my survey. First I went to the beautiful subdivisions in Ayala-Alabang and then the other half of my time I interviewed the squatters in Tondo. And yes, 50% of my respondents said that our medicines are “abot-kaya”! Isn’t that nice?!
“Si Noli de Castro na isa pang kampeon ng senior citizens ay namumuno ng ating programa sa pabahay. Congratulations, Noli. The low interest rates for housing are unprecedented. Naglaan ang Pag-IBIG ng P25 billion na pautang, six times the amount when we started it in 2001. P50 billion pa ang ilalaan hanggang 2010.”
Translation: We have all these nice housing loan programs in place and also low interest rates. So if you earn more than P20,000 a month for sure you can afford these programs. Hmm, I know I failed to mention that most cannot actually afford these programs especially those who are unemployed whose numbers continue to grow every year. And of course if you are earning our meager minimum wage don’t bother applying for a housing loan – that will just be a waste of time.
“Therefore, in the fight against lawless violence, we must uphold these values. It is never right and always wrong to fight terror with terror.”
Translation: But do not call the disappearance of critical journalists and assassination of activists as acts of terrorism. Maybe there is a curse against those who are critical of my government. I promise I have nothing to do with that. Don’t worry, I will ask congress to pass a law to break the curse while I continue hunting down those leftists, rather, those terrorists.
“Together with economic prosperity is the need to strengthen our institutions of government. Let's start with election reform. We have long provided funds for computerization. We look forward to the modernization of voting, counting and canvassing.”
Translation: Indeed, we need a new way to count our ballots. In the last election the opposition was able to beat my candidates because I was not able to call Garci. Tsk, tsk, now people know my modus operandi. Maybe next time, with these new counting machines I can easily ask my “friends” in the Comelec to do some magic! ;-)
“We must weed out corruption and build a strong system of justice that the people can trust. We have provided unprecedented billions for antigraft efforts. Thus the Ombudsman's conviction rate hit 77% this year, from 6% in 2002. We implemented lifestyle checks, dormant for half a century. Taun-taon dose-dosenang opisyal ang nasususpinde, napapatalsik o kinakasuhan dahil labis-labis sa suweldo ang gastos at ari-arian nila.”
Translation: That’s right, we will punish those corrupt officials! But only those who are against me, of course. And for those who support me its ok, they deserve extra allowance like Joc-joc Bolante who made good use of taxpayers’ money to buy votes, este, fertilizer I mean.
“What I have outlined today is just a sampler of our P1.7 trillion Medium Term Public Investment Program. How will we fund all these? P1 trillion from state revenues, with tax reforms and firm orders to BIR and Customs to hit their targets. P300 billion from state corporations. The balance from government financial institutions, private sector investments, local government equity and our bilateral and multilateral partners.”
Translation: It is really difficult to tax the rich through their corporations because they are so intelligent and creative in preparing their tax returns. Not to mention they are my friends. So I simply reformed and expanded the VAT so that I could easily tax you, and millions of ordinary workers like you. Never mind the rich, they are only a few anyway. And if our collection is short, I can simply get more loans from World Bank, the IMF or the ADB.
“We were able to strengthen our economy because of the fiscal reforms that we adopted at such great cost to me in public disapproval. But I would rather be right than popular."
Translation: Actually all I do is borrow and borrow, and spend less in social and economic services so that it will appear that our coffer is full. And thanks to the remittances of our OFWs, our economy is still alive! And also, this situation provides me with an nice alibi for my very low public approval rating – because of unpopular “fiscal reforms”! Naks!
“I stand in the way of no one's ambition. I only ask that no one stand in the way of the people's well being and the nation's progress.”
Translation: As I always say anybody against me or my policies will be considered as standing “in the way of the people's well being and the nation's progress”. Is that clear?!
(Send your comments and reactions to ianseruelo@gmail.com.)
“You come around every now and then
Your clothes are different but youre still the same
Why else would you come here?
Scumbag on a mission”
- from “Scumbag” by Green Day
Here are some quotes from the recent State of the Nation Address (SONA) of Philippine President Gloria Arroyo and my version of what she really meant. This is an attempt to translate the SONA and unmask its real meaning.
“Tapos na ang halalan at pamumulitika; panahon na para maglingkod nang walang damot, mamuno nang walang pangamba maliban sa kagalingan ng bayan, and to govern with wisdom, compassion, vision and patriotism. “
Translation: Indeed this recent election proved that Filipinos do not really like me much but always remember that I still hold the purse, ok? Tsk tsk if only I wasn’t caught talking with Garci… But anyway, you politicians should now play my game and follow my wishes. And as I have been doing before, your support will always be rewarded. Simply close your eyes and cover your ears, just always say yes to me and I will keep feeding you.
“Hangarin kong mapabilang ang Pilipinas sa mayayamang bansa sa loob ng dalawampung taon. By then poverty shall have been marginalized; and the marginalized raised to a robust middle class.”
Translation: I actually plan to stay in office for 20 more years if that would be fine with you. I promise you, in 20 years we will all be rich, but not as rich as Jose Pidal. Remember how I licked the problem of classroom shortage? All I did was simply manipulate the student to classroom ratio and instantly the problem disappeared. That is how I plan to solve poverty. I’m an economist remember, I know numbers.
“We will have achieved the hallmarks of a modern society, where institutions are strong.”
Translation: Look at how we make our state very strong. Now, anybody opposing me can very well end up with a bullet in the head or disappear into thin air. Warning to critical journalists and activists.
“With the tax reforms of the last Congress, and I thanked the last Congress, we have turned around our macroeconomic condition through fiscal discipline, toward a balanced budget. Binabayaran ang utang, pababa ang interes, at paakyat ang pondo para sa progreso ng sambayanang Pilipino!!!”
Translation: Wow, I am enjoying this! This macroeconomics is really fun! Look, I even borrowed more money than the total borrowings under Cory, Ramos and Erap! And of course, because I borrowed a lot, we were able to pay more of our old debts. Needless to say we have a lot of new debts, hehehe. But why do I care, it’s your tax money that will be used to pay for it anyway.
“First, investments in physical, intellectual, legal and security infrastructure to increase business confidence. Imprastraktura para sa negosyo at trabaho. Isang milyong trabaho taon-taon.”
Translation: As in my previous SONAs, I promised millions of jobs annually. And I am proud to say that yes I have achieved all those targets! In fact by simply paying lip service to the country’s economic needs, our government is forcing, este…causing… millions upon millions of Filipinos to be employed annually… outside of the country however, hehehe. But still you have to credit me for that, for if there are jobs here in our country, then only a few Filipinos will be able to see America or Canada.
“Second, investments in a stronger and wider social safety net - murang gamot, abot-kayang pabahay, eskwelang primera klase, mga gurong mas magaling at mas malaki ang kita, mga librong de-kalidad, more scholarships for gifted students, and language instruction to maintain our lead in English proficiency. Dunong at kalusugan ang susi sa kasaganaan.”
Translation: Health and education, that’s my priority. That is why for 2007 we budgeted P146B for education and P13B for heath care. Just don’t look at my allocation for debt servicing which, by the way, will amount to P622B. Don’t tell anybody ok? Just believe me when I say that health and education are my priorities.
“Third, investments in bringing peace to Mindanao; in crushing terrorism wherever it threatens regardless of ideology; and in putting a stop to human rights abuses whatever the excuse.”
Translation: We will crush those activists and journalists who have nothing good to do or say especially now that we have the Human Security Act. However, don’t believe those who say that my government or the military is responsible for their disappearance and assassination, ok? Or else I will have you picked up for interrogation.
“…And I am happy to see that the latest survey in June shows the hunger rate has sharply gone down nationwide. We have done that.”
Translation: I told you so, because of my expertise in economics I sure can make sense of statistics. The SWS survey said that from an all-time high of 19%, those who experience having nothing to eat at least once in a quarter went down to 14.7% in June. But as always I would not mention numbers that will contradict my “achievements”. For example, I did not say that the average for the last 37 quarters is 11.6%! So hunger actually increased under my administration. Hahaha, I am so talented!
“Para sa buong bansa naglaan tayo ng P3 billion para sa tatlong libong kilometro ng farm to market roads. Sanlibong kilometro sa Mindanao. Gawa na ang tatlong daan.”
Translation: Yes, that is a total of P3 billion: P1 billion for the roads, P1 billion for the local politicians and of course P1 billion for me! Hehe, it is really hard to be a president so I deserve it, right?
“I ask Congress to amend the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) for open access and more competition.”
Translation: You know, I hate to admit it but EPIRA is a big failure. I was the one who really lobbied for that law to be passed. I said before that EPIRA will lower power rates and will result to better service to consumers. Contrary to that however, our power rates are so high now! Salamat na lang and you are the ones paying for my power bill in Malacañang! Thanks ha…
“The Philippines ranks among top off-shoring hubs in the world because of cost competitiveness and more importantly our highly trainable, English proficient, IT-enabled management and manpower.”
Translation: We are encouraging our youth to learn English. It’s ok if you’re head is empty as long as you speak English with an American accent, di ba sosyal pakinggan! And because our minimum wage is cheap, so cheap that it’s far below the living wage, we can corner these foreign corporations to set up call centers here!
“This year, we are investing more for education: P150 billion, P29 billion more than last year.”
Translation: This is the fun part in dishing out big budgetary figures. Nobody will be able to know what part will go to which. Actually, just like our annual allocation for the education sector, more than 90% of the P150 billion will simply go to salaries of personnel and for the operating expenses of the Department of Education. So there is actually negligible budget for new schools, learning facilities and programs that will improve quality education. But don’t try to understand that non-sense, just believe me when I say that education will receive higher budget, ok?
“Kaya sa isang survey, halos kalahati ang nagsabing abot-kaya ang gamot, kumpara sa 11% noong 1999.”
Translation: Yup! I was so excited in conducting the survey myself. Imagine I went door-to-door to conduct my survey. First I went to the beautiful subdivisions in Ayala-Alabang and then the other half of my time I interviewed the squatters in Tondo. And yes, 50% of my respondents said that our medicines are “abot-kaya”! Isn’t that nice?!
“Si Noli de Castro na isa pang kampeon ng senior citizens ay namumuno ng ating programa sa pabahay. Congratulations, Noli. The low interest rates for housing are unprecedented. Naglaan ang Pag-IBIG ng P25 billion na pautang, six times the amount when we started it in 2001. P50 billion pa ang ilalaan hanggang 2010.”
Translation: We have all these nice housing loan programs in place and also low interest rates. So if you earn more than P20,000 a month for sure you can afford these programs. Hmm, I know I failed to mention that most cannot actually afford these programs especially those who are unemployed whose numbers continue to grow every year. And of course if you are earning our meager minimum wage don’t bother applying for a housing loan – that will just be a waste of time.
“Therefore, in the fight against lawless violence, we must uphold these values. It is never right and always wrong to fight terror with terror.”
Translation: But do not call the disappearance of critical journalists and assassination of activists as acts of terrorism. Maybe there is a curse against those who are critical of my government. I promise I have nothing to do with that. Don’t worry, I will ask congress to pass a law to break the curse while I continue hunting down those leftists, rather, those terrorists.
“Together with economic prosperity is the need to strengthen our institutions of government. Let's start with election reform. We have long provided funds for computerization. We look forward to the modernization of voting, counting and canvassing.”
Translation: Indeed, we need a new way to count our ballots. In the last election the opposition was able to beat my candidates because I was not able to call Garci. Tsk, tsk, now people know my modus operandi. Maybe next time, with these new counting machines I can easily ask my “friends” in the Comelec to do some magic! ;-)
“We must weed out corruption and build a strong system of justice that the people can trust. We have provided unprecedented billions for antigraft efforts. Thus the Ombudsman's conviction rate hit 77% this year, from 6% in 2002. We implemented lifestyle checks, dormant for half a century. Taun-taon dose-dosenang opisyal ang nasususpinde, napapatalsik o kinakasuhan dahil labis-labis sa suweldo ang gastos at ari-arian nila.”
Translation: That’s right, we will punish those corrupt officials! But only those who are against me, of course. And for those who support me its ok, they deserve extra allowance like Joc-joc Bolante who made good use of taxpayers’ money to buy votes, este, fertilizer I mean.
“What I have outlined today is just a sampler of our P1.7 trillion Medium Term Public Investment Program. How will we fund all these? P1 trillion from state revenues, with tax reforms and firm orders to BIR and Customs to hit their targets. P300 billion from state corporations. The balance from government financial institutions, private sector investments, local government equity and our bilateral and multilateral partners.”
Translation: It is really difficult to tax the rich through their corporations because they are so intelligent and creative in preparing their tax returns. Not to mention they are my friends. So I simply reformed and expanded the VAT so that I could easily tax you, and millions of ordinary workers like you. Never mind the rich, they are only a few anyway. And if our collection is short, I can simply get more loans from World Bank, the IMF or the ADB.
“We were able to strengthen our economy because of the fiscal reforms that we adopted at such great cost to me in public disapproval. But I would rather be right than popular."
Translation: Actually all I do is borrow and borrow, and spend less in social and economic services so that it will appear that our coffer is full. And thanks to the remittances of our OFWs, our economy is still alive! And also, this situation provides me with an nice alibi for my very low public approval rating – because of unpopular “fiscal reforms”! Naks!
“I stand in the way of no one's ambition. I only ask that no one stand in the way of the people's well being and the nation's progress.”
Translation: As I always say anybody against me or my policies will be considered as standing “in the way of the people's well being and the nation's progress”. Is that clear?!
(Send your comments and reactions to ianseruelo@gmail.com.)
Saturday, July 07, 2007
Power to the Consumers
“Make a move, before they make a move and you…
Move around and get from one to two…”
- from “Move!” by Damian Marley
Now that the election is over may we request our “beloved” politicos to immediately start working for the taxpayers and consumers.
First order of business, here in Iloilo City, should be to alleviate the burden of the power consumers who for years have been slapped with exorbitant electric bills. PECO (read: Patay Electric Consumers) has for decades manipulated the rate setting mechanism to pad its electric rates. And up to now, it seems there is no respite to the suffering of the Ilonggo consumers.
To compare, look at the amount of taxpayers’ money that the Province was able to save recently when they shifted their power source from PECO to Napocor. Now, the Iloilo Provincial Capitol only spends about half of what it pays PECO before.
Let us remember that the Iloilo City Government is also the biggest power consumer and it will be the first one to profit from any decrease in power rates. So the people of Iloilo will benefit both as consumers and taxpayers.
The questions now are: Is there a way to end this abuse and malpractices of PECO? Is there a feasible solution in sight? Or do we simply remain at the mercy of PECO?
The answer is: Yes, there is a way! In fact we now have a golden opportunity to have a say in PECO and in fact take over its management as a consumer cooperative. To recall, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) ordered PECO last year to refund P2.89 Billion of overcharges to its consumers covering the period of February 1996 to December 2005. This amount, instead of the tedious process of distributing it back to thousands of consumers, should be converted to shares to take-over the management of PECO.
This take-over proposal is actually upon the initiative of the Freedom from Debt Coalition – Iloilo Chapter (FDC-Iloilo), which is currently chaired by consumer advocate Atty Roming Gerochi. Many groups and consumers are already supporting and endorsing this proposal.
The only missing ingredient now is the City Government’s action on the matter. If there is political will on both the executive and legislative branches of the city government this surely can be done. A resolution should be passed by the Iloilo City Council to support this move to take-over PECO and create a committee to pursue this objective. The City Mayor should support this effort and may start studying this feasible proposal by the consumers.
To all Ilonggo consumers, let us join our voices to pressure our politicians to act on this fast.
* * * * *
This column also join all consumers and groups in condemning the serious attempt on the life of Atty. Roming Gerochi and his family. In the strongest terms, we denounce that cowardly act and call on concerned government agencies to act swiftly and prosecute those responsible.
Below are excerpts from the Press Statement released by FDC-Iloilo, which was jointly signed by several other organizations.
“We, the members of Freedom from Debt Coalition, Sanlakas, Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP), Partido ng Manggagawa (PM), and Kongreso ng Pagkakaisa ng Maralitang Lungsod (KPML) condemns in the highest possible terms the attempt on the life of our leader Atty. Romeo Gerochi and his family, by still unidentified men or group who launched an M-203 grenade launcher on his residence at dawn of July 6, 2007.”
“Though the grenade failed to detonate, we view this incident as an attempt to harass and intimidate, and most of all, to silence the chairperson of the Freedom from Debt Coalition-Iloilo Chapter.”
“We do not discount the fact that as a pro-poor and pro-people, Atty. Gerochi could earn the ire of the elite in Iloilo especially that he leads controversial advocacies against the abuses of public utilities like Panay Electric Company, and much recently, the Metro Iloilo Water District.”
“Likewise, we do not deny the fact that Atty. Gerochi might have disappointed the elite politicians with his progressive perspectives in politics and governance and of his strong anti-privatization stand regarding the issues involving public utilities and of issues marred by corruption like the Pavia Housing Scam.“
Move around and get from one to two…”
- from “Move!” by Damian Marley
Now that the election is over may we request our “beloved” politicos to immediately start working for the taxpayers and consumers.
First order of business, here in Iloilo City, should be to alleviate the burden of the power consumers who for years have been slapped with exorbitant electric bills. PECO (read: Patay Electric Consumers) has for decades manipulated the rate setting mechanism to pad its electric rates. And up to now, it seems there is no respite to the suffering of the Ilonggo consumers.
To compare, look at the amount of taxpayers’ money that the Province was able to save recently when they shifted their power source from PECO to Napocor. Now, the Iloilo Provincial Capitol only spends about half of what it pays PECO before.
Let us remember that the Iloilo City Government is also the biggest power consumer and it will be the first one to profit from any decrease in power rates. So the people of Iloilo will benefit both as consumers and taxpayers.
The questions now are: Is there a way to end this abuse and malpractices of PECO? Is there a feasible solution in sight? Or do we simply remain at the mercy of PECO?
The answer is: Yes, there is a way! In fact we now have a golden opportunity to have a say in PECO and in fact take over its management as a consumer cooperative. To recall, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) ordered PECO last year to refund P2.89 Billion of overcharges to its consumers covering the period of February 1996 to December 2005. This amount, instead of the tedious process of distributing it back to thousands of consumers, should be converted to shares to take-over the management of PECO.
This take-over proposal is actually upon the initiative of the Freedom from Debt Coalition – Iloilo Chapter (FDC-Iloilo), which is currently chaired by consumer advocate Atty Roming Gerochi. Many groups and consumers are already supporting and endorsing this proposal.
The only missing ingredient now is the City Government’s action on the matter. If there is political will on both the executive and legislative branches of the city government this surely can be done. A resolution should be passed by the Iloilo City Council to support this move to take-over PECO and create a committee to pursue this objective. The City Mayor should support this effort and may start studying this feasible proposal by the consumers.
To all Ilonggo consumers, let us join our voices to pressure our politicians to act on this fast.
* * * * *
This column also join all consumers and groups in condemning the serious attempt on the life of Atty. Roming Gerochi and his family. In the strongest terms, we denounce that cowardly act and call on concerned government agencies to act swiftly and prosecute those responsible.
Below are excerpts from the Press Statement released by FDC-Iloilo, which was jointly signed by several other organizations.
“We, the members of Freedom from Debt Coalition, Sanlakas, Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP), Partido ng Manggagawa (PM), and Kongreso ng Pagkakaisa ng Maralitang Lungsod (KPML) condemns in the highest possible terms the attempt on the life of our leader Atty. Romeo Gerochi and his family, by still unidentified men or group who launched an M-203 grenade launcher on his residence at dawn of July 6, 2007.”
“Though the grenade failed to detonate, we view this incident as an attempt to harass and intimidate, and most of all, to silence the chairperson of the Freedom from Debt Coalition-Iloilo Chapter.”
“We do not discount the fact that as a pro-poor and pro-people, Atty. Gerochi could earn the ire of the elite in Iloilo especially that he leads controversial advocacies against the abuses of public utilities like Panay Electric Company, and much recently, the Metro Iloilo Water District.”
“Likewise, we do not deny the fact that Atty. Gerochi might have disappointed the elite politicians with his progressive perspectives in politics and governance and of his strong anti-privatization stand regarding the issues involving public utilities and of issues marred by corruption like the Pavia Housing Scam.“
Sunday, June 18, 2006
PECO’s overcharges
”Watch how the ice melts away
Crystals of fire and heat
Drip drop by drop, now a stream…”
- Sara Mathai Stinus
Cheers to another victory to the cause of the consumers! In a recent decision dated June 9 2009, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) ordered PECO to refund power consumers P2.89 billion pesos worth of overcharges. We have been abused and plundered by PECO for a long time and this is payback time.
An excerpt of the decision reads: “Upon thorough review of the documents submitted by PECO, the Commission found that PECO’s implementation of its PCC (Power Cost Charge) resulted to over-recoveries amounting to PhP2,888,220,748.00 for the period February 1996 to July 2005.”
The then Energy Regulatory Board (ERB) has set a formula for the computation of rates. But PECO with its talent and creativity has managed to go around the formula to squeeze the consumers even drier.
After years of battle, the ERC at last saw the light. It’s a long overdue decision but definitely this is a big blow to PECO. We have to especially thank consumer advocate Atty. Romeo Gerochi who now chairs FDC-Iloilo for the continuous and consistent advocacy against the power giants.
Just imagine the scale by which this power distribution utility exploits rate-making schemes to milk the most from its consumers. That is almost P3 billion in overcharges! And that does not even include interests. Since that amount belongs to the consumers, it is the same situation as if PECO borrowed money from us. The consumers are the creditor and PECO is the debtor. Thus we could even demand from ERC that interests from such amount loaned should be added to the P2.89 billion.
Or we can even see it as the consumers investing billions of pesos to PECO. A return on investment is absolutely right and proper.
While we expect PECO to utilize all its resources to block the implementation of this order, this is nevertheless a reason to celebrate. This decision unmasked once again PECO’s malpractices as this column has since been exposing.
Now, who said that only government-ran agencies are inefficient and corrupt? PECO is a classic example of a private run entity that reeks in inefficiency and corruption. Contrary to the supporters and sponsors of the privatization policy (institutions like the IMF, the World Bank and other international banks), private-ran doesn’t necessarily mean efficiency, competition and lower rates.
The government’s privatization policy is flawed. Public utilities are imbued with public interest and it is the government’s responsibility to promote such interest and should not be delegated to profit-motivated entities.
So, what is the best argument against the privatization of public utilities like power and water services? The clear answer is right before our very eyes – Panay Electric Company.
(Send your comments and reactions to: for text messages to 0919-348-6337; for e-mails to ianseruelo@yahoo.com)
Crystals of fire and heat
Drip drop by drop, now a stream…”
- Sara Mathai Stinus
Cheers to another victory to the cause of the consumers! In a recent decision dated June 9 2009, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) ordered PECO to refund power consumers P2.89 billion pesos worth of overcharges. We have been abused and plundered by PECO for a long time and this is payback time.
An excerpt of the decision reads: “Upon thorough review of the documents submitted by PECO, the Commission found that PECO’s implementation of its PCC (Power Cost Charge) resulted to over-recoveries amounting to PhP2,888,220,748.00 for the period February 1996 to July 2005.”
The then Energy Regulatory Board (ERB) has set a formula for the computation of rates. But PECO with its talent and creativity has managed to go around the formula to squeeze the consumers even drier.
After years of battle, the ERC at last saw the light. It’s a long overdue decision but definitely this is a big blow to PECO. We have to especially thank consumer advocate Atty. Romeo Gerochi who now chairs FDC-Iloilo for the continuous and consistent advocacy against the power giants.
Just imagine the scale by which this power distribution utility exploits rate-making schemes to milk the most from its consumers. That is almost P3 billion in overcharges! And that does not even include interests. Since that amount belongs to the consumers, it is the same situation as if PECO borrowed money from us. The consumers are the creditor and PECO is the debtor. Thus we could even demand from ERC that interests from such amount loaned should be added to the P2.89 billion.
Or we can even see it as the consumers investing billions of pesos to PECO. A return on investment is absolutely right and proper.
While we expect PECO to utilize all its resources to block the implementation of this order, this is nevertheless a reason to celebrate. This decision unmasked once again PECO’s malpractices as this column has since been exposing.
Now, who said that only government-ran agencies are inefficient and corrupt? PECO is a classic example of a private run entity that reeks in inefficiency and corruption. Contrary to the supporters and sponsors of the privatization policy (institutions like the IMF, the World Bank and other international banks), private-ran doesn’t necessarily mean efficiency, competition and lower rates.
The government’s privatization policy is flawed. Public utilities are imbued with public interest and it is the government’s responsibility to promote such interest and should not be delegated to profit-motivated entities.
So, what is the best argument against the privatization of public utilities like power and water services? The clear answer is right before our very eyes – Panay Electric Company.
(Send your comments and reactions to: for text messages to 0919-348-6337; for e-mails to ianseruelo@yahoo.com)
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
PECO & PPC’s dilly-dally
“When you have grasped a problem clearly, face it with resolution,
for that is the way of the strong.”
- Kahlil Gibran
I can’t understand why PECO is not resolute in implementing the ERC order for it to reconnect to the NPC Panay Grid. More than five months have past but PECO is not so keen on forging its immediate reconnection to an alternative power source.
PECO and its supplier, Mirant’s Panay Power Corporation have been whining of their incapability (read: inefficiency) to supply the power needs of Iloilo City and the need to raise their rates. Now that the Energy Regulatory Commission ordered them to avail of NPC power, here they are dragging their feet.
But hey PECO and Mirant-PPC, as in the past, are also quick to implement part of the ERC order – that is the rate increase component of the decision! When it comes to rate increases, these greedy tandem are swift in their action but when it comes to the benefit of the consumers, they cannot be expected to move.
No less than the Operations Manager of NPC are saying that they have enough power to supply the deficiency (read: inefficiency again) of Mirant-PPC. According to NPC, they have at least 22 megawatts in excess power. That is way above the 3-megawatt shortage that Mirant-PPC cannot provide above its 79-megawatt capacity.
First and foremost, PECO and its partner Mirant-PPC have benefited and are benefiting from the blackout scare that they have been peddling themselves since more than a year ago. They have utilized this baseless dark scenario to condition the minds of the public to accept higher rates while they petition for the approval of the amendment of their power supply agreement with the ERC.
An immediate reconnection to the NPC Panay Grid will show that their blackout tactic was nothing more than that – a tactic, an underhanded ploy to deceive the consumers. Supported by their spokesperson in the city government, in the person of Mayor Treñas himself, PECO and Mirant-PPC may loose whatever credibility they have left (if indeed, there is something left).
Maybe that is why Mayor Treñas is so adamant to bring in another power barge – to “solve” his fake power blackout and cover up the reality that even without an additional power barge, there is enough supply in the Panay Grid. The solution is right in his own backyard but the mayor, to project that he is working, utilized some dramatics to convince no less than her (fake) Excellency Gloria Arroyo to bring in a new power barge.
Secondly, an immediate reconnection will also put a downward pressure on the rates as NPC power is way cheaper than the unreasonable rates of PECO and Mirant-PPC. Surely, we consumers will demand that PECO exhaust first the cheaper source before availing the expensive power of Mirant-PPC. Add to this is that there are power projects in the pipeline that will even increase the power available to the Panay Grid such as the uprating of the Negros-Panay submarine cable.
Well, PECO may say, we don’t earn from the generation charge for we simply pass the cost charged by the power producer to consumers. But let us recall that cross-ownership once openly ruled PECO and PPC. It means that at one time, it is an open fact that PECO owned part of PPC and PPC owned part of PECO.
Now, how can we be sure that PECO has indeed divested all its interest in PPC, as it declared? Isn’t it that it is also highly possible that such divestment was in paper only? And how about PPC, did it truly divest its share in PECO? With PECO and PPC’s history of greed, I wouldn’t be surprised if there in fact exist a continuing cross-interest in the two companies.
(Send your comments and reactions to: for text messages to 0919-348-6337; for e-mails to ianseruelo@yahoo.com.)
for that is the way of the strong.”
- Kahlil Gibran
I can’t understand why PECO is not resolute in implementing the ERC order for it to reconnect to the NPC Panay Grid. More than five months have past but PECO is not so keen on forging its immediate reconnection to an alternative power source.
PECO and its supplier, Mirant’s Panay Power Corporation have been whining of their incapability (read: inefficiency) to supply the power needs of Iloilo City and the need to raise their rates. Now that the Energy Regulatory Commission ordered them to avail of NPC power, here they are dragging their feet.
But hey PECO and Mirant-PPC, as in the past, are also quick to implement part of the ERC order – that is the rate increase component of the decision! When it comes to rate increases, these greedy tandem are swift in their action but when it comes to the benefit of the consumers, they cannot be expected to move.
No less than the Operations Manager of NPC are saying that they have enough power to supply the deficiency (read: inefficiency again) of Mirant-PPC. According to NPC, they have at least 22 megawatts in excess power. That is way above the 3-megawatt shortage that Mirant-PPC cannot provide above its 79-megawatt capacity.
First and foremost, PECO and its partner Mirant-PPC have benefited and are benefiting from the blackout scare that they have been peddling themselves since more than a year ago. They have utilized this baseless dark scenario to condition the minds of the public to accept higher rates while they petition for the approval of the amendment of their power supply agreement with the ERC.
An immediate reconnection to the NPC Panay Grid will show that their blackout tactic was nothing more than that – a tactic, an underhanded ploy to deceive the consumers. Supported by their spokesperson in the city government, in the person of Mayor Treñas himself, PECO and Mirant-PPC may loose whatever credibility they have left (if indeed, there is something left).
Maybe that is why Mayor Treñas is so adamant to bring in another power barge – to “solve” his fake power blackout and cover up the reality that even without an additional power barge, there is enough supply in the Panay Grid. The solution is right in his own backyard but the mayor, to project that he is working, utilized some dramatics to convince no less than her (fake) Excellency Gloria Arroyo to bring in a new power barge.
Secondly, an immediate reconnection will also put a downward pressure on the rates as NPC power is way cheaper than the unreasonable rates of PECO and Mirant-PPC. Surely, we consumers will demand that PECO exhaust first the cheaper source before availing the expensive power of Mirant-PPC. Add to this is that there are power projects in the pipeline that will even increase the power available to the Panay Grid such as the uprating of the Negros-Panay submarine cable.
Well, PECO may say, we don’t earn from the generation charge for we simply pass the cost charged by the power producer to consumers. But let us recall that cross-ownership once openly ruled PECO and PPC. It means that at one time, it is an open fact that PECO owned part of PPC and PPC owned part of PECO.
Now, how can we be sure that PECO has indeed divested all its interest in PPC, as it declared? Isn’t it that it is also highly possible that such divestment was in paper only? And how about PPC, did it truly divest its share in PECO? With PECO and PPC’s history of greed, I wouldn’t be surprised if there in fact exist a continuing cross-interest in the two companies.
(Send your comments and reactions to: for text messages to 0919-348-6337; for e-mails to ianseruelo@yahoo.com.)
Monday, January 02, 2006
PECO's attempt to deceive consumers
*Note: This article is a reply to PECO's Letter to the Editor (posted below) that was published in the December 19, 2005 issue of The News Today www.thenewstoday.info. PECO was reacting to an earlier article in my column entitled: "Who's to suffer from PECO-PPC inefficiency?" (also posted below). As a response, I submitted this article, but due to reasons which are out of my control, it never saw print. Because PECO is clearly attempting to mislead the public, I am publishing it here.
Who’s to suffer from PECO-PPC inefficiency? Part 2
“How many rivers do we have to cross before we can talk to the boss?
All that we got seems lost… We must have really paid the cost…”
- From “Burnin’ and Lootin’” by Bob Marley
A merry Christmas to all! Well let me at least start this article with a greeting.
This holiday season, though, is definitely not a good one for consumers. Why? – Because the answer to the question above, if we ask PECO and PPC again, is always “WE”, the power consumers. Yes, the poor Ilonggo power consumers will always be the ones to carry the burden of the inefficiency of this duo.
This is an extension of my article with this same title that appeared in this column early this December. PECO sent its reaction to that article and was printed by this paper (please see December 19, 2005 issue). This is to expound on my previous piece and at the same time serve as a reply to PECO.
Now let me itemize and respond to the points raised by PECO. At face value, PECO’s letter to the editor seem reasonable but in close scrutiny it is full of fallacies, half-truths and outright lies. Keep an open mind; this column is confident that you can decide who is basing their arguments on “erroneous assumptions” that may be “mistaken for the truth.”
Word for the day: “ginbahig”
First, PECO asserts that their Power Purchase Agreement with PPC “provided adjustments for such factors as fuel cost and foreign exchange fluctuations” and that from 2004 “the cost of fuel dramatically increased on an almost weekly basis and the foreign-exchange rate between the Philippine Peso and the US Dollar was at an all-time low.” And PECO stressed that the agreement was “approved by the ERC” or the Energy Regulatory Commission.
Well those statements are skirting the real issue. PECO fails to tell us that in the same agreement in Section 7 there is a stipulation that “Throughout the term of this Agreement, SELLER’s (i.e. PPC’s) rates to PECO shall be equal to or less than the rates offered by bulk power producers in the grid, such as NPC or its successor company(ies)…” Thus while they are given the provision for adjustments, their rates should still not exceed the rates of NPC. This is precisely why they have a pending petition with the ERC to amend their contract.
Prior to the putting up and the operation of the PPC plant, it is also this assurance that they dangled for the government to give the go-signal to the project and approve their exclusive bilateral contract. The government even ended up giving handsome investment incentives to the PPC project such as tax incentives, etc. PPC, which was then partly owned by PECO, was granted to be PECO’s sole supplier as per their supply contract. Indeed it is in the interest of the consumers that the rates they committed will be less than or equal to the NPC rates.
Now this leads me to another point. In 1997, when PECO and PPC entered into an agreement, are they so stupid not to consider increases in prices of petroleum products and the depreciation of the peso to the dollar? Are successive oil price increases and peso depreciation new phenomena that they failed to factor those in their decision-making process? I’m just thinking why PECO and PPC are now using these excuses?
This simply boils down to two things – either the executives of PECO and PPC are indeed so stupid not to factor these in, or they believe that we consumers are so dumb that we wouldn’t even sound an alarm when they begin to breach their commitment. Was all their talk about “rates no higher than NPC rates” simply empty bait for the speedy approval of their application and to gain good PR among the different stakeholders in Iloilo? This I believe is arrogance on their part for believing they can easily break their commitment and simply get away with it. For they know they can simply scare the City and the consumers with a power blackout given that PPC is the only supplier of PECO.
We have a nice term for this in our language: “ginbahig”.
Government subsidies to NPC
Now let us go to PECO’s argument that NPC rates are subsidized by the government that’s why according to PECO, NPC rates does not reflect the true cost of power. PECO underscored that “unlike NPC, it does not enjoy a subsidy from the national government”. Now here comes PECO again trying to justify its very expensive rates as they have done in the ERC hearings on the unbundling of rates. Of course if you ask PPC, this will also be their justification.
Further, PECO cites the enactment of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (R.A. 9136 or EPIRA) in “June 2000”. PECO added, “At about the same time, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, heeding public clamor against rising power rates, mandated that the NPC's fuel cost and foreign currency adjustments be capped at 0.40/kwHr. These are the very same factors included in PPC/Mirant's generation charges pursuant to the formula approved by the ERC. The effect of this artificial cap on costs set in place a massive government subsidy to NPC generation rates that continues up to this day. The national government also absorbed NPC's debt of 300 Billion Pesos.”
It is interesting to note that PECO is telling us that EPIRA was enacted in “June 2000” and that Gloria Arroyo “at about the same time” lowered the PPA to P.40/kwh. This seems to be a minor error on the part of PECO but I suspect it was intentionally meant to blur the actual timeline. Fact is EPIRA was enacted in June 2001 and the lowering of the PPA as Gloria’s response to public clamor was made after another year later – May 2002. Now what is the significance of this? The way I see it, PECO would like to project that this “subsidy” to NPC was started about the same time or at least near the year it started to get its power supply exclusively from PPC, which is 1999. This way it can claim that we can’t compare NPC and PPC rates because well, “NPC enjoys government subsidy”.
I am amazed on how PECO utilized these data to support its position. First and foremost, the government has been subsidizing NPC for a long time now even before EPIRA, even before PECO and PPC entered into a contract. The national government has long been assuming the debts of NPC, a big part of which is the BNPP debt and those arising from guarantees in NPC contracts with IPPs (Independent Power Producers). These guarantees and obligations of NPC not only affect Filipinos as taxpayers but as consumers as well in the form of very high PPA charges.
Now regarding the issue of the Gloria’s intervention that led to the temporary decrease of PPA to 40 centavos, this in fact is an argument against PECO and PPC. This band-aid solution of Gloria to appease the public led to NPC’s petition in June 2004 of a rate increase of about P2 per kWh. Here in the Visayas Grid, the petition involved an increase from P2.5238 to P4.5887 per kWh. Now how much was the Generation Charge of PECO on that same month NPC filed its petition? – P6.3816 per kWh!
It means that even if we factor out the “artificial cap” and “the massive government subsidy” that PECO is whining about, and grant the full rate increase petition of NPC, NPC rates is still far lower than PPC-PECO rates by almost P2.00.
PECO would like us to believe this: “BECAUSE of government subsidy to NPC, consumers enjoy lower generation rates”. But the accurate statement would actually be: “DESPITE of government’s subsidy to NPC, consumers continue to suffer from expensive generation rates because of NPC’s onerous contracts with IPPs”. And we should even be surprised why PPC and PECO’s rates are even higher given that they are not burdened by billions of debts and contract costs to be recovered from the consumers, unlike NPC.
PPC-PECO rates vs. NPC rates
Now PECO has the guts to claim that “PPC/Mirant's charges to PECO were LOWER that that of NPC until the government intervened and subsidized NPC's generation charges.” This assertion of PECO is one pure lie laced with an alibi. Contrary to this is the reality that for a long time already even before the passage of EPIRA in 2001, we consumers under the franchise area of PECO have been charged with Generation Rates much higher than NPC rates.
In year 2000 for example, that is before EPIRA and before Gloria’s artificial cap on PPA, PECO’s Generation Charges ranged from P3.50 to P4.20 per kWh while NPC only charged P2.00 to P2.50.
PECO even supported the fact that indeed PPC charged higher than NPC rate. In May 2004, the month ERC released its decision on the unbundling of its rates, PECO said, “It (ERC) ruled that the generation aspect of PECO's rates should be pegged at NPC's rate, which was then P3.7491/kwHr. At the time, PPC/Mirant's billing of generation charges to PECO amounted to P5.7718, a difference of P2/kwHr more or less.”
And you know what more? Do you know how much PECO charged its consumers in that same billing period? P6.2181 per kWh! From P5.7718 per kWh it paid to PPC, PECO charged us P6.2181. Here’s why – PECO’s signature style of padding its rates. During that time it is pretending to operate its own generating plants in General Luna Street and claims that it is needed to augment the supply of PPC (which we know is another alibi). The cost of operating its antiquated inefficient power plants is bloated and added up to the costs it paid to PPC. Thus dividing its total expenses related to power generation among consumers, we ended up paying even higher Generation Rate.
That’s why PECO continues to amuse me as they conveniently highlighted: “As a distribution company, PECO cannot earn any revenue from generation charges. It only collects the generation charges and remits them to the generation company.”
While PECO is right in saying that “a distribution company cannot” and should not earn from generation charges, the fact is they were guilty of the same. PECO was only stopped from this anomalous practice when the ERC Order on the unbundling of its rate became executory last September 2005. PECO, a distribution company, have been robbing us consumers in broad daylight in this scheme of pretending to be a generation company too.
I am giving a concrete example so you may exactly know the extent of inefficiency and the greed of PECO. In 2001, PPC generated 99.83% of the total power supply at an average rate of P4.2924 per kWh. PECO on the other hand self-generated a teeny-weeny negligible 0.17% of the power supply at an anomalous average of P64.3116 per kWh! Thus it diluted the relatively lower cost of PPC, pushing Generation Rates up to an average of P5.0029 in 2001. That’s more than P0.70 per kWh added!
This column challenges PECO and PPC-Mirant to release to the media a complete historical data (from 1998) that includes the monthly Generation Rates charged by PPC to PECO, the monthly Generation Rates it charged the Ilonggo consumers with a corresponding comparison to the monthly Generation Rates of NPC.
PPC-PECO rates are expensive because…
Apart from the points already cited, what is the truth about the yawning gap between PPC-PECO and NPC generation rates? The hard fact is that the diesel-run power plants of PPC are not as cost-efficient as the geothermal plants of NPC in terms of baseload generation. Baseload plants, those that run all day long, are utilized to supply energy 24 hours daily, including off-peak periods.
Diesel plants are not designed for baseload all-day operation mainly because of the high cost of fuel. These plants are best suited for peak-hour generation to augment the baseload plants. This is elementary and the engineers of PECO and PPC know these.
Rightly, a fellow-advocate from the Responsible Ilonggos for Sustainable Energy (RISE!) has written: “The major reason why the National Power Corp. (NPC) can sell electricity at P3.20 / kWh is the use of geothermal energy from Leyte and Negros islands that the Philippine National Oil Co. (PNOC) sell at P1.50 / kWh.”
Despite of this however, PECO and PPC arranged a sort of a sweetheart’s deal in 1997. They swapped shares thus PECO owned part of PPC and PPC owned part of PECO. Then they crafted an exclusive contract stipulating PPC will be the sole supplier of PECO.
Thus, even if PPC starts to charge anomalously higher rates compared to NPC, PECO will still source its power from PPC. The hell PECO cares for it will simply pass on these costs to consumers! And the owners of PECO and PPC laughed their way to the bank as their pockets left and right are overflowing. Worse is they know pretty well that a diesel power plant can never be as cost-efficient as a geothermal plant in baseload generation and therefore will be more expensive (aside from more polluting).
And you know what, if you read the contents of the contract amendment they are currently petitioning with the ERC, you will surely puke with their sheer disregard for the consumers, sheer greed indeed!
PECO, struggling to project a good image
Notice now how PECO in its response to this column tried to project a benevolent and pro-consumer image.
“With the guarantee of reliable, secure and efficient power supply to its customers foremost in its consideration, PECO embarked on a joint-venture with the First Philippine Holdings, and Panay Power Corporation came into being,” PECO said.
If PECO is indeed true to its word that “foremost in its consideration” is “the guarantee of reliable, secure and efficient power supply to its customers”, why did it cut its sourcing from NPC and sign an exclusive supply contract with PPC. Isn’t it that “the guarantee of reliable, secure and efficient power supply to its customers” can be better achieved if PECO have more than two suppliers, PPC and NPC?
Then according to PECO, EPIRA “prohibits cross-ownership between distribution and generation companies. As a result, PECO sold its shares in PPC to Mirant.”
PECO wants us to believe that it sold its shares in PPC to Mirant to meet the requirements of the EPIRA law. The fact is, since they have signed their contract prior to the passage of EPIRA, cross ownership is not really a problem. (This actually is one of the many flaws of the law.) A portion of Section 45 paragraph (b) of EPIRA law provides “…no distribution utility shall be allowed to source from bilateral power supply contracts more than fifty percent (50%) of its total demand from an associated firm engaged in generation but such limitation, however, shall not prejudice contracts entered into prior to the effectivity of this Act.”
This is trivial but its funny how PECO wants to look good from its actions, which were purely business decisions. For sure there are other reasons that led PECO to sell its PPC shares to Mirant. For all we know, it could be an arrangement with their previous business partner, the Lopez-led First Philippine Holdings Corp (FHPC) and prospective buyer Mirant. To note, FHPC during this time was hard-pressed to sell some of its subsidiaries to pay off its maturing obligations.
Here’s more – according to PECO, it “has gone to great lengths to prevent a power crisis in Iloilo, incurring extensive legal fees to apply for reconsideration of the government's decision to impose artificial caps on real expenses.”
For the information of the public, PECO’s expenses in legal fees since time immemorial have always been charged to us consumers. They have managed to recover such expenses in their questionable practice of rate padding. Well, I just don’t know how they will manage to do that now in the unbundled format. Imagine, it is we, consumers, who paid for the lawyers hired by PECO to defend itself against our complaints! How anomalous could you get?
Supply from NPC, possible?
“What happens if PPC closes shop? Upon receipt of the ERC's initial decision in May 2004, PECO immediately conferred with NPC about the latter's capacity to supply energy to Iloilo City. NPC REPLIED IN A LETTER THAT IT DOES NOT HAVE THE CAPACITY TO SUPPLY ILOILO CITY WITH ANY POWER WHATSOEVER.” This is again a quote from PECO’s letter.
Either NPC or PECO is lying here. May we request PECO to please present to the public NPC’s letter that it indeed said that. While it may be true that NPC cannot supply the whole 78 MW demand of Iloilo City, NPC’s June 2, 2005 simulation of the Cebu-Negros-Panay (CNP Grid) Supply and Demand Profile for October to December 2005 show that it can provide 40 MW. So it is not accurate to say that NPC doesn’t have the capacity to provide any power to Iloilo City.
My colleague Melvin Purzuelo of RISE is correct in pointing out that 40 MW is enough for the baseload needs of Iloilo City. PPC’s diesel plants can then serve as peaking plants that will augment the power supply of the City during peak hours.
This is a sure way to reduce Generation Rates. Instead of getting all our power needs from an expensive source, we can get a big part of it from a cheaper alternative. Instead of buying all 10 sacks of rice at P1000 each, this will be like buying 6 sacks at P600 each and another 4 sacks at P1000. (Of course it would be best if we can purchase all 10 sacks at P600 each.)
In the future, with the uprating or the improvement of the submarine transmission cables from Negros to Panay we can even get most if not all of our needs from NPC or whoever sells at a lower rate.
Closing bow
I can provide more data to counter the hollow reaction of PECO but I think I have given enough for our readers, at least for now. Just one more thought though – who do you think is basing their arguments on “erroneous assumptions” that may be “mistaken for the truth”? As I have shown, PECO has not only utilized erroneous assumptions, but fallacies, half-truths and lies.
Who’s to suffer from PECO-PPC inefficiency? Part 2
“How many rivers do we have to cross before we can talk to the boss?
All that we got seems lost… We must have really paid the cost…”
- From “Burnin’ and Lootin’” by Bob Marley
A merry Christmas to all! Well let me at least start this article with a greeting.
This holiday season, though, is definitely not a good one for consumers. Why? – Because the answer to the question above, if we ask PECO and PPC again, is always “WE”, the power consumers. Yes, the poor Ilonggo power consumers will always be the ones to carry the burden of the inefficiency of this duo.
This is an extension of my article with this same title that appeared in this column early this December. PECO sent its reaction to that article and was printed by this paper (please see December 19, 2005 issue). This is to expound on my previous piece and at the same time serve as a reply to PECO.
Now let me itemize and respond to the points raised by PECO. At face value, PECO’s letter to the editor seem reasonable but in close scrutiny it is full of fallacies, half-truths and outright lies. Keep an open mind; this column is confident that you can decide who is basing their arguments on “erroneous assumptions” that may be “mistaken for the truth.”
Word for the day: “ginbahig”
First, PECO asserts that their Power Purchase Agreement with PPC “provided adjustments for such factors as fuel cost and foreign exchange fluctuations” and that from 2004 “the cost of fuel dramatically increased on an almost weekly basis and the foreign-exchange rate between the Philippine Peso and the US Dollar was at an all-time low.” And PECO stressed that the agreement was “approved by the ERC” or the Energy Regulatory Commission.
Well those statements are skirting the real issue. PECO fails to tell us that in the same agreement in Section 7 there is a stipulation that “Throughout the term of this Agreement, SELLER’s (i.e. PPC’s) rates to PECO shall be equal to or less than the rates offered by bulk power producers in the grid, such as NPC or its successor company(ies)…” Thus while they are given the provision for adjustments, their rates should still not exceed the rates of NPC. This is precisely why they have a pending petition with the ERC to amend their contract.
Prior to the putting up and the operation of the PPC plant, it is also this assurance that they dangled for the government to give the go-signal to the project and approve their exclusive bilateral contract. The government even ended up giving handsome investment incentives to the PPC project such as tax incentives, etc. PPC, which was then partly owned by PECO, was granted to be PECO’s sole supplier as per their supply contract. Indeed it is in the interest of the consumers that the rates they committed will be less than or equal to the NPC rates.
Now this leads me to another point. In 1997, when PECO and PPC entered into an agreement, are they so stupid not to consider increases in prices of petroleum products and the depreciation of the peso to the dollar? Are successive oil price increases and peso depreciation new phenomena that they failed to factor those in their decision-making process? I’m just thinking why PECO and PPC are now using these excuses?
This simply boils down to two things – either the executives of PECO and PPC are indeed so stupid not to factor these in, or they believe that we consumers are so dumb that we wouldn’t even sound an alarm when they begin to breach their commitment. Was all their talk about “rates no higher than NPC rates” simply empty bait for the speedy approval of their application and to gain good PR among the different stakeholders in Iloilo? This I believe is arrogance on their part for believing they can easily break their commitment and simply get away with it. For they know they can simply scare the City and the consumers with a power blackout given that PPC is the only supplier of PECO.
We have a nice term for this in our language: “ginbahig”.
Government subsidies to NPC
Now let us go to PECO’s argument that NPC rates are subsidized by the government that’s why according to PECO, NPC rates does not reflect the true cost of power. PECO underscored that “unlike NPC, it does not enjoy a subsidy from the national government”. Now here comes PECO again trying to justify its very expensive rates as they have done in the ERC hearings on the unbundling of rates. Of course if you ask PPC, this will also be their justification.
Further, PECO cites the enactment of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (R.A. 9136 or EPIRA) in “June 2000”. PECO added, “At about the same time, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, heeding public clamor against rising power rates, mandated that the NPC's fuel cost and foreign currency adjustments be capped at 0.40/kwHr. These are the very same factors included in PPC/Mirant's generation charges pursuant to the formula approved by the ERC. The effect of this artificial cap on costs set in place a massive government subsidy to NPC generation rates that continues up to this day. The national government also absorbed NPC's debt of 300 Billion Pesos.”
It is interesting to note that PECO is telling us that EPIRA was enacted in “June 2000” and that Gloria Arroyo “at about the same time” lowered the PPA to P.40/kwh. This seems to be a minor error on the part of PECO but I suspect it was intentionally meant to blur the actual timeline. Fact is EPIRA was enacted in June 2001 and the lowering of the PPA as Gloria’s response to public clamor was made after another year later – May 2002. Now what is the significance of this? The way I see it, PECO would like to project that this “subsidy” to NPC was started about the same time or at least near the year it started to get its power supply exclusively from PPC, which is 1999. This way it can claim that we can’t compare NPC and PPC rates because well, “NPC enjoys government subsidy”.
I am amazed on how PECO utilized these data to support its position. First and foremost, the government has been subsidizing NPC for a long time now even before EPIRA, even before PECO and PPC entered into a contract. The national government has long been assuming the debts of NPC, a big part of which is the BNPP debt and those arising from guarantees in NPC contracts with IPPs (Independent Power Producers). These guarantees and obligations of NPC not only affect Filipinos as taxpayers but as consumers as well in the form of very high PPA charges.
Now regarding the issue of the Gloria’s intervention that led to the temporary decrease of PPA to 40 centavos, this in fact is an argument against PECO and PPC. This band-aid solution of Gloria to appease the public led to NPC’s petition in June 2004 of a rate increase of about P2 per kWh. Here in the Visayas Grid, the petition involved an increase from P2.5238 to P4.5887 per kWh. Now how much was the Generation Charge of PECO on that same month NPC filed its petition? – P6.3816 per kWh!
It means that even if we factor out the “artificial cap” and “the massive government subsidy” that PECO is whining about, and grant the full rate increase petition of NPC, NPC rates is still far lower than PPC-PECO rates by almost P2.00.
PECO would like us to believe this: “BECAUSE of government subsidy to NPC, consumers enjoy lower generation rates”. But the accurate statement would actually be: “DESPITE of government’s subsidy to NPC, consumers continue to suffer from expensive generation rates because of NPC’s onerous contracts with IPPs”. And we should even be surprised why PPC and PECO’s rates are even higher given that they are not burdened by billions of debts and contract costs to be recovered from the consumers, unlike NPC.
PPC-PECO rates vs. NPC rates
Now PECO has the guts to claim that “PPC/Mirant's charges to PECO were LOWER that that of NPC until the government intervened and subsidized NPC's generation charges.” This assertion of PECO is one pure lie laced with an alibi. Contrary to this is the reality that for a long time already even before the passage of EPIRA in 2001, we consumers under the franchise area of PECO have been charged with Generation Rates much higher than NPC rates.
In year 2000 for example, that is before EPIRA and before Gloria’s artificial cap on PPA, PECO’s Generation Charges ranged from P3.50 to P4.20 per kWh while NPC only charged P2.00 to P2.50.
PECO even supported the fact that indeed PPC charged higher than NPC rate. In May 2004, the month ERC released its decision on the unbundling of its rates, PECO said, “It (ERC) ruled that the generation aspect of PECO's rates should be pegged at NPC's rate, which was then P3.7491/kwHr. At the time, PPC/Mirant's billing of generation charges to PECO amounted to P5.7718, a difference of P2/kwHr more or less.”
And you know what more? Do you know how much PECO charged its consumers in that same billing period? P6.2181 per kWh! From P5.7718 per kWh it paid to PPC, PECO charged us P6.2181. Here’s why – PECO’s signature style of padding its rates. During that time it is pretending to operate its own generating plants in General Luna Street and claims that it is needed to augment the supply of PPC (which we know is another alibi). The cost of operating its antiquated inefficient power plants is bloated and added up to the costs it paid to PPC. Thus dividing its total expenses related to power generation among consumers, we ended up paying even higher Generation Rate.
That’s why PECO continues to amuse me as they conveniently highlighted: “As a distribution company, PECO cannot earn any revenue from generation charges. It only collects the generation charges and remits them to the generation company.”
While PECO is right in saying that “a distribution company cannot” and should not earn from generation charges, the fact is they were guilty of the same. PECO was only stopped from this anomalous practice when the ERC Order on the unbundling of its rate became executory last September 2005. PECO, a distribution company, have been robbing us consumers in broad daylight in this scheme of pretending to be a generation company too.
I am giving a concrete example so you may exactly know the extent of inefficiency and the greed of PECO. In 2001, PPC generated 99.83% of the total power supply at an average rate of P4.2924 per kWh. PECO on the other hand self-generated a teeny-weeny negligible 0.17% of the power supply at an anomalous average of P64.3116 per kWh! Thus it diluted the relatively lower cost of PPC, pushing Generation Rates up to an average of P5.0029 in 2001. That’s more than P0.70 per kWh added!
This column challenges PECO and PPC-Mirant to release to the media a complete historical data (from 1998) that includes the monthly Generation Rates charged by PPC to PECO, the monthly Generation Rates it charged the Ilonggo consumers with a corresponding comparison to the monthly Generation Rates of NPC.
PPC-PECO rates are expensive because…
Apart from the points already cited, what is the truth about the yawning gap between PPC-PECO and NPC generation rates? The hard fact is that the diesel-run power plants of PPC are not as cost-efficient as the geothermal plants of NPC in terms of baseload generation. Baseload plants, those that run all day long, are utilized to supply energy 24 hours daily, including off-peak periods.
Diesel plants are not designed for baseload all-day operation mainly because of the high cost of fuel. These plants are best suited for peak-hour generation to augment the baseload plants. This is elementary and the engineers of PECO and PPC know these.
Rightly, a fellow-advocate from the Responsible Ilonggos for Sustainable Energy (RISE!) has written: “The major reason why the National Power Corp. (NPC) can sell electricity at P3.20 / kWh is the use of geothermal energy from Leyte and Negros islands that the Philippine National Oil Co. (PNOC) sell at P1.50 / kWh.”
Despite of this however, PECO and PPC arranged a sort of a sweetheart’s deal in 1997. They swapped shares thus PECO owned part of PPC and PPC owned part of PECO. Then they crafted an exclusive contract stipulating PPC will be the sole supplier of PECO.
Thus, even if PPC starts to charge anomalously higher rates compared to NPC, PECO will still source its power from PPC. The hell PECO cares for it will simply pass on these costs to consumers! And the owners of PECO and PPC laughed their way to the bank as their pockets left and right are overflowing. Worse is they know pretty well that a diesel power plant can never be as cost-efficient as a geothermal plant in baseload generation and therefore will be more expensive (aside from more polluting).
And you know what, if you read the contents of the contract amendment they are currently petitioning with the ERC, you will surely puke with their sheer disregard for the consumers, sheer greed indeed!
PECO, struggling to project a good image
Notice now how PECO in its response to this column tried to project a benevolent and pro-consumer image.
“With the guarantee of reliable, secure and efficient power supply to its customers foremost in its consideration, PECO embarked on a joint-venture with the First Philippine Holdings, and Panay Power Corporation came into being,” PECO said.
If PECO is indeed true to its word that “foremost in its consideration” is “the guarantee of reliable, secure and efficient power supply to its customers”, why did it cut its sourcing from NPC and sign an exclusive supply contract with PPC. Isn’t it that “the guarantee of reliable, secure and efficient power supply to its customers” can be better achieved if PECO have more than two suppliers, PPC and NPC?
Then according to PECO, EPIRA “prohibits cross-ownership between distribution and generation companies. As a result, PECO sold its shares in PPC to Mirant.”
PECO wants us to believe that it sold its shares in PPC to Mirant to meet the requirements of the EPIRA law. The fact is, since they have signed their contract prior to the passage of EPIRA, cross ownership is not really a problem. (This actually is one of the many flaws of the law.) A portion of Section 45 paragraph (b) of EPIRA law provides “…no distribution utility shall be allowed to source from bilateral power supply contracts more than fifty percent (50%) of its total demand from an associated firm engaged in generation but such limitation, however, shall not prejudice contracts entered into prior to the effectivity of this Act.”
This is trivial but its funny how PECO wants to look good from its actions, which were purely business decisions. For sure there are other reasons that led PECO to sell its PPC shares to Mirant. For all we know, it could be an arrangement with their previous business partner, the Lopez-led First Philippine Holdings Corp (FHPC) and prospective buyer Mirant. To note, FHPC during this time was hard-pressed to sell some of its subsidiaries to pay off its maturing obligations.
Here’s more – according to PECO, it “has gone to great lengths to prevent a power crisis in Iloilo, incurring extensive legal fees to apply for reconsideration of the government's decision to impose artificial caps on real expenses.”
For the information of the public, PECO’s expenses in legal fees since time immemorial have always been charged to us consumers. They have managed to recover such expenses in their questionable practice of rate padding. Well, I just don’t know how they will manage to do that now in the unbundled format. Imagine, it is we, consumers, who paid for the lawyers hired by PECO to defend itself against our complaints! How anomalous could you get?
Supply from NPC, possible?
“What happens if PPC closes shop? Upon receipt of the ERC's initial decision in May 2004, PECO immediately conferred with NPC about the latter's capacity to supply energy to Iloilo City. NPC REPLIED IN A LETTER THAT IT DOES NOT HAVE THE CAPACITY TO SUPPLY ILOILO CITY WITH ANY POWER WHATSOEVER.” This is again a quote from PECO’s letter.
Either NPC or PECO is lying here. May we request PECO to please present to the public NPC’s letter that it indeed said that. While it may be true that NPC cannot supply the whole 78 MW demand of Iloilo City, NPC’s June 2, 2005 simulation of the Cebu-Negros-Panay (CNP Grid) Supply and Demand Profile for October to December 2005 show that it can provide 40 MW. So it is not accurate to say that NPC doesn’t have the capacity to provide any power to Iloilo City.
My colleague Melvin Purzuelo of RISE is correct in pointing out that 40 MW is enough for the baseload needs of Iloilo City. PPC’s diesel plants can then serve as peaking plants that will augment the power supply of the City during peak hours.
This is a sure way to reduce Generation Rates. Instead of getting all our power needs from an expensive source, we can get a big part of it from a cheaper alternative. Instead of buying all 10 sacks of rice at P1000 each, this will be like buying 6 sacks at P600 each and another 4 sacks at P1000. (Of course it would be best if we can purchase all 10 sacks at P600 each.)
In the future, with the uprating or the improvement of the submarine transmission cables from Negros to Panay we can even get most if not all of our needs from NPC or whoever sells at a lower rate.
Closing bow
I can provide more data to counter the hollow reaction of PECO but I think I have given enough for our readers, at least for now. Just one more thought though – who do you think is basing their arguments on “erroneous assumptions” that may be “mistaken for the truth”? As I have shown, PECO has not only utilized erroneous assumptions, but fallacies, half-truths and lies.
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