BISHOPS: CALLOUSNESS
[PHOTOS -WATERFALL WONDER A
power crisis seems to be remotely felt in this once secluded corner of Mindanao.
An overload of at least 84 waterfalls cascading through a forested area is found
at the Aliwagwag Falls in Cateel town in Davao Oriental. KARL SUMBELING / INQUIRER MINDANAO]
DAVAO CITY, APRIL 17, 2012 (INQUIRER)
By Germelina Lacorte, Jocelyn R. Uy Inquirer Mindanao - Consumers and
business and political leaders in Mindanao are disappointed with President
Benigno Aquino III's response to the power crisis on the island, saying the
privatization of power barges was the root cause of their woes.
Two Catholic bishops on the island were neither pleased with Mr. Aquino's
statement that Mindanao would have to shoulder higher power costs as part of the
solution to the island's electricity-supply problem.
"If only the government has not sold the power barges to Therma Marine Inc.
(TMI), there would have been no shortage of power in Mindanao right now," said
Dr. Melchie Ambalong, chair of the Mindanao Commission on Women.
Ambalong pointed out that the power barges, which used to serve as the "spare
tire" of the Agus-Pulangi hydropower plants, could have supplied some 200
megawatts, enough to cover the power shortfall. She was referring to PB 117 in
Agusan del Norte and PB 118 in Compostela Valley, which the government sold to
the Aboitiz-owned TMI in 2010.
She added that despite a provision in the Energy and Power Industry Reform
Act (Epira), which allows the Power Sector Asset and Liabilities Management
(PSALM) coop to allocate an amount to rehabilitate the Agus-Pulangi hydropower
complex, the government had left the hydropower plants to deteriorate. As a
result, their installed capacity was reduced by 254 MW.
At the Mindanao Power Summit on Friday, Mr. Aquino warned of more outages if
the Agus-Pulangi hydro complex remained exempt from privatization as provided by
Epira.
Hydro not sustainable
With the growing population and increasing opportunities in the region,
Mindanao's dependence on hydroelectric power was not sustainable anymore, the
President said.
Mr. Aquino said that due to the low supply of water, Mindanao could no longer
rely on hydropower for more than half of its daily electricity consumption.
"Everything has its price. You have to pay a real price for a real service.
There are only two choices: pay a little more for energy, or live with the
rotating brownouts," he said.
Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras even blamed the power crisis on the
Agus-Pulangi hydro complex's exemption from privatization. He said it was
"difficult for any investor to put up a nonhydropower plant" because they would
be competing with the low-priced power generated by hydro facilities.
Almendras said the complex continued to deteriorate, generating only 646 MW
instead of its 982 MW installed capacity.
'Fabricated' shortfall
Various sectors, including the Association of Mindanao Rural Electric
Cooperatives (Amreco), earlier alleged that the state-owned National Power Corp.
(Napocor) "fabricated" the power shortage to force government to sell the
Agus-Pulangi complex to private firms.
[PHOTO- POWER SOURCE: This 42.5-MW power plant along the Sibulan
River in Davao del Sur supplies the energy needs of Davao City and Panabo City
in Davao del Norte. LYN RILLON]
Ambalong said it appeared that the government had allowed the plants to
deteriorate to allow the sale of the facilities at dirt cheap prices.
Her argument jibed with that of Ricardo Juliano, vice president for Mindanao
of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Juliano said that for Mindanao to maintain its competitive power rates, the
government should keep implementing a hydro-based energy mix, with fossil
fuel-fed plants serving only as ancillary reserve.
He noted that this approach was successfully being done in Brazil, which has
one of the lowest power prices in the world.
"It has been a practice of the business sector to rehabilitate the facility
before its sale so that it can fetch a higher price," Mindanao Business Council
chair Vicente Lao also said in a separate presentation.
Davao City Councilor Leah Librado said Friday's summit served merely as
"theatrics" to make it appear that the people in Mindanao were heard, even as
the government would push through with the bidding of the remaining power barges
101, 102, 103 and 104 on May 16.
PB 101, 102 and 103 are stationed in Iloilo, while PB 104 is at the Holcim
compound in Davao City. Each diesel-powered barge has a capacity of 32 MW.
Amreco earlier said that buying power from privately owned power barges would
mean an increase in the consumers' electric bills.
Mr. Aquino said Mindanao would need "a more diverse mix of energy sources"
because hydro power was no longer reliable.
He could be referring to the 300-MW coal-fired plant that Aboitiz Power Corp.
plans to erect in Davao City and the Alcantara-led Conal Holdings Corp.'s 200-MW
project in Sarangani.
Almendras had served as treasurer for both Aboitiz & Co. and the Aboitiz
Equity Ventures.
Unfair
Marbel Bishop Dinualdo Gutierrez said it was unfair for the people of
Mindanao to suffer the consequences of the government's negligence and wrong
policies that led to the power crisis.
"It's not the fault of the people of Mindanao why the region is having a
power crisis today," said Gutierrez over Church-run Radio Veritas on Sunday.
"It's the government to blame because of its neglect and wrong policies that
tend to favor businessmen and private investors rather than looking after the
welfare of its people," the prelate said.
Apostolic Vicariate of Jolo Bishop Angelito Lampon echoed the same sentiments
over Radio Veritas, saying that the government still had the option to propagate
renewable energy in Mindanao, such as the use of hydropower plants.
"For now, we are forced to accept the reality of paying more but that also
shows the neglect and the lack of insight on the part of the government," Lampon
said.
He said letting people pay for higher electricity cost would create more
problems than provide a solution to the crisis.
Gutierrez and Lampon lamented that the power summit had failed in its aim to
provide reasonable solutions to the region's continuing power supply woes.
The bishops opposed the development of biomass and nuclear power plants to
generate more power in Mindanao.
"It's not a good idea to build a nuclear power plant because we have many
fault lines in the country, particularly in Mindanao," said Lampon. "One major
earthquake and we will all be finished."
Gutierrez urged the President to pray and seriously study and explore other
alternatives to solve the power crisis in the region instead of placing the
burden on the people.
Among the examples Gutierrez cited were the use of pineapple waste to
generate electricity, an experiment initiated by Dole Philippines; and the use
of solar units like those installed in the residence of priests in Palembang
town in South Cotabato.
FROM MALAYA BUSINESS INSIGHTS
MINDANAO BISHOPS HIT PNoy's 'CALLOUS' STATEMENTS
ON POWER
Written by GERARD NAVAL - TWO Mindanao-based bishops
have accused President Aquino of "callousness" for asking Mindanaoans to pay
more instead of complaining in resolving the power crisis in the region.
In separate interviews by Radio Veritas, Marbel Bishop Dinualdo Gutierrez and
Jolo Bishop Angelito Lampon said it is callous for the government to simply ask
the people to just pay more in response to the problem.
"Sa ngayon, we are forced to accept the reality to pay more. But that also
shows the neglect and lack of insight on the part of the government," Lampon
said.
"Hindi naman kasalanan ng mga taga-Mindanao kung bakit nagkakaroon ng power
crisis sa rehiyon. Kasalanan ng pamahalaan ang power shortage dahil sa kanilang
kapabayaan at mga maling polisiya," said Gutierrez.
The two bishops then said that such a statement simply proves that the
recently-held Mindanao Power Summit in Davao City was futile.
"That is not the solution to the problem, it creates more problem to the
people," said Lampon.
Last Friday, Aquino said Mindanao residents need to bear additional
electricity cost in order to help the government deal with the power crisis in
southern Philippines.
Aquino said residents of Mindanao need to bear additional electricity cost to
help solve the energy problem in the region.
"You have to pay more because this is the reality of economics, not the
rhetoric of politics. Everything has its price. You have to pay a real price for
a real service. There are only two choices: pay a little more for energy, or
live with the rotating brownouts," Aquino said during the Summit.
During the past months, several parts of Mindanao have been experiencing
rotational brownouts ranging from three hours to 15 hours daily.
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
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