House to look into high electricity rates – Belmonte

MANILA, Philippines –  The House of Representatives will look into the real reason behind the high electricity rates in the country, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said yesterday.

He told the Wallace Business Forum in Pasay City that the two chambers of Congress, through the Joint Congressional Power Commission, would inquire into the cost of electricity as part of its review of the implementation of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) of 2001.

He said other areas of the industry that lawmakers would assess are competition particularly among power producers, the sale of assets of the National Power Corp. (Napocor)   and its indebtedness, and the operation of the wholesale electricity spot market (WESM).

He said reviewing and amending EPIRA, if necessary, is part of the legislative agenda that he wants the House to focus on to spur economic growth and promote the people’s welfare.

The Philippines is said to have the second highest cost of electricity in Southeast Asia after Japan.

At least two congressmen – Ben Evardone of Eastern Samar and Teddy Casiño of Bayan Muna – have called on the House to investigate the high cost of power.

According to Evardone, part of a customer’s monthly electric bill goes to payments for Napocor loans, which he said should have already been paid had the proceeds from the sale of the firm’s assets been applied to its indebtedness.

He said proceeds from the sale of Napocor assets have amounted to $10.6 billion, while the state power company’s indebtedness in 2001 when EPIRA was enacted stood at $9.3 billion.

There should be a surplus instead of a debt, he said.

However, Evardone lamented that the public continues to be billed for Napocor’s borrowings.

In his remarks before the business forum, Belmonte said there are four problem areas that need to be addressed through legislation.

He identified these as social inequality as manifested by unequal access to opportunities and inadequate social safety nets; competitiveness issues stemming from inadequate public infrastructure, low human capital and lack of productive employment; government inefficiency due to corruption, weak tax collection and fiscal instability; and uncertainties and unwarranted risks regarding the national economy caused by redundant economic policies that breed monopolistic competition and other forms of unfair practices.

“We are determined to create the conditions toward macroeconomic stability, address the narrow fiscal space and enable ourselves to enter a path of sustainable revenue growth and spending,” Belmonte said.

He said he and his colleagues would try to reform policies to “bring about a more vibrant economy and ensure access to resources and opportunities for the vast majority of our people – most especially those of the poor and the vulnerable.”

He lamented that the number of poor Filipinos has increased from 23.8 million in 2003 to 27.6 million in 2006.

He said the House would work on a universal health care coverage program that would benefit additional poor families and workers in the informal sector.

Toward this end, he said his chamber would restructure excise taxes on cigarettes and liquor – or the so-called “sin” products – and earmark a portion of the incremental revenue to fund universal health insurance coverage and disease control programs of the Department of Health.

Belmonte said they would also review laws on private-public partnerships, including the Build-Operate-Transfer Law, fiscal incentives, government bidding, and customs duties and tariff.

“We will reinforce competitive bidding as the central and primary mode of project procurement and award, and limit unsolicited proposals to specified situations,” he added.

He pointed out that Congress needs the cooperation of all sectors in crafting reforms that would accelerate the country’s economic growth.

“To achieve success, we count on everyone, not only the business sector, to assist us in identifying, crafting and charting vital reform directions. After all, policies are not forged along the halls of Congress but in the furnace of consensus and debate among stakeholders in the national community,” he stressed. –Jess Diaz (The Philippine Star)