P15 wage hike is loose change that can’t cover MRT fare hike—labor group

Press Release

March 19, 2015

The militant Partido Manggagawa belittled the minimum wage hike for workers in the National Capital Region (NCR) as “loose change that cannot even cover the fare hike for MRT and LRT.” The NCR Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board announced a P15 pay increase for some 600,000 minimum wage earners in NCR.

Renato Magtubo, PM national chair, asserted that “How can inclusive growth be true and of what use is the Philippine economy being the star performer in Asia, when all that workers can receive as their added share in the fruits of their labor is a measly P15? With MRT fares increased from P15 to P28, a minimum wage earner riding to and from work is worse off than before even with the wage hike. And electricity bills are due to balloon in the coming days.”

Magtubo cited a study which reveals that 70% of MRT and LRT riders are people who earn less than the minimum wage. He said that he expected labor groups attending a meeting tomorrow of the Tripartite Executive Committee of the National Tripartite Industrial Peace Council to register their negative sentiments on the measly pay increase.

“With their sorry track record of propping up the cheap labor policy, the regional wage boards deserve to be abolished,” Magtubo declared. PM is advocating the abolition of the wage boards and its replacement by a National Wage Commission. The mandate of the Wage Commission will be to fix wages based on the single criterion of cost of living.

“Despite the huge gap between the present minimum wage and the current cost of living, the Wage Commission can achieve equalizing the two by a host of mechanisms among which are direct wage increases, tax exemptions, price discounts at social security subsidies for workers,” Magtubo explained.

Power crisis real, strategic but gov’t doing mere quick fix – labor coalition

NEWS RELEASE

NAGKAISA

28 November 2014

  

The emerging power crisis is a cruel outcome of a bad policy under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) that cannot be resolved by the proposed emergency power President Aquino is seeking from Congress, the labor coalition Nagkaisa said in a statement.

The group said it is not common for ordinary workers to comment on techno-economic aspects of the power industry, but for this coming celebration of Bonifacio Day on November 30, labor will come out loud on this along with other big issues because the high cost of power in the country is making the lives of ordinary workers more miserable.

According to Wilson Fortaleza, spokesperson for Partido Manggagawa (PM) and one of the convenors of Nagkaisa,  “this quick-fix solution via an emergency power to address a decade-old problems of escalating rates and diminishing supply reignited labor’s apprehension that once again, a power crisis is being transformed into business opportunity for the private sector.”

Fortaleza was referring to the Interruptible Load Program (ILP) and power contracting being pursued through a joint resolution in Congress that would grant the President emergency powers to address the expected power shortage in 2015. 

He said the ILP can be pursued by the Department of Energy (DoE) even without the President exercising emergency powers because it is merely a demand-side management issue and not production of additional generating capacity as required under Section 71 of EPIRA.  

"Likewise, the foreign and privately-operated National Grid Corporation must first be made to account for its primary responsibility to secure reliable supply, including sufficient reserve capacities,"argued Fortaleza.

The group explained that the ILP is a mode for utilizing standby power or embedded generating capacity available in several establishments such as malls and commercial buildings. During shortage, their utilization means an x amount of freed megawatt capacity that can be supplied by Meralco to other users. 

Fortaleza, however, said that for this alone an emergency power is not needed.  So why is Malacanang asking for it?  The group can only think of the following scenarios:

    §  Under the ILP enrollment is voluntary but enrollees will be compensated to incentivize their             participation

    §  But because there is no system currently in place to exactly determine the price  of compensation,             imposing a universal levy – an x amount per kWh to be charged to consumers take-or-pay  – is             the most likely scheme.

    §  Retail electricity suppliers (RES) who already posses contracted capacities under the open access             (but which they cannot supply to their contestable market because most of them are also ILP             players) will also be compensated.

     

     These, in effect, will result to rate increases.   But Fortaleza insists that a take-or-pay levy cannot be charged to consumers under ILP since embedded generation sets were designed or were practically built by industry players to address expected and non-expected outages.

“So why do we have to pay them for that temporary sacrifice?  And why will Henry Sy, John Gokongwei and Jaime Ayala charge an x amount per kWh from everyone, including non-mall users?”

The group argued further that the only valid excuse for utilizing emergency powers is when the government  goes back to generation, stop industry fraud, and makes a decisive shift to renewable energy and energy democracy.

If Petilla can offer his head, why can’t Ducut and Ocampo do the same?

Press Statement

December 26, 2013

NAGKAISA!

The news of Department of Energy (DoE) Secretary Jericho Petilla tendering his resignation in the wake of failure to meet his self-imposed deadline in bringing back electricity to areas ravaged by typhoon Yolanda is all over the air.  Whether the President will accept his resignation or not can be part of a ploy. But nevertheless, Petilla had the guts to place his head on the chopping board.

We wonder, however, if other inept officials in the energy family – particularly Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) Chairperson Zenaida Ducut and Philippine Electricity Market Corporation (PEMC) head Mel Ocampo can do the same.

Petilla who heads the DoE is equally responsible for the government’s failure to stop the P4.15/kWh rate increase imposed by Meralco.  But Ducut and Ocampo who are in the frontline and supposed to be the first persons to detect market failure and protect consumers' welfare stood idle before the coming tsunami of power hikes. They therefore should go.  

Truth is, throughout their tenures, they have consistently failed to discharge their duties of regulating the power industry properly. The latest fiasco is just the culmination of years of ineptitude and incompetence.

As early as 2012, they were aware of scheduled maintenance shutdown and yet they did nothing to prevent the largest market failure in the power sector to date. In the process they unduly enriched Independent Power Producers (IPPs) to the tune of 10 billion pesos for a month’s worth of power outages!

They should go based on the principle of command responsibility. At the least, they allowed the electricity market to be gamed, and at the most, they are a party to the reported collusion among power firms.

                                     

Ducut and Ocampo should be investigated for possible charges of economic sabotage.

It’s also the time for the regime of Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) to go.

Militants slam Serge Osmena for “no collusion” statement

Press Release

December 19, 2013

The militant Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) today slammed Sen. Serge Osmena for pre-empting the probes by the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) of the huge power rate hike with his statement yesterday that there is no collusion among generation companies and Meralco. The two departments are precisely looking into allegations of collusion.

“Serge is a consistent supporter of power industry players since his sponsorship of the EPIRA Law which ushered in the era of high electricity rates to his defense of Meralco’s gargantuan rate hike,” opined Wilson Fortaleza, PM spokesperson.

Fortaleza is one of the signatories to the complaint against Meralco and generation companies lodged by groups last Monday with the DOJ Office for Competition. DOJ Secretary Leila de Lima pledged to come up with a finding by January next year.

Meanwhile PM continued its campaign of picketing Meralco branches. Yesterday its Cavite chapter protested at the Meralco branch and depot in Dasmarinas City. Tomorrow, PM members will picket the Meralco branch in Marilao, Bulacan. Last Monday PM staged a coordinated picket of branches in Paranaque, Rizal and Cavite.

“Serge’s statement is a mere opinion and not even a conclusion after an investigation. At the Senate hearing, even as senators grilled officials of the Energy Regulatory Commission and the DOE, they handled with kid gloves representatives of Meralco and the generation companies. As to why, it may be necessary to look into election campaign contributions by power industry players,” Fortaleza averred.

PM asserts that the Meralco price increase is unconscionable since it is an act of economic terror amid calamities, inequality and poverty in the country. Fortaleza argued that “It is also unfair. Workers in NCR were only granted P10 per day or P260 per month under Wage Order No. 18. The P4.15/kwh total increase in Meralco’s rate is an additional P830 burden for households consuming 200 kwh per month.”

“The worker-led consumer campaign against collusion by Meralco and the generation companies to drive electricity prices will continue and intensify next year. Consumers anger will boil over when they get their next electricity bills,” Fortaleza predicted.

Advisory: Filing of anti-competition inquiry; coordinated picketing of Meralco branches

Media Advisory
December 16, 2013

Groups to ask for anti-competition inquiry

as pickets to be held in outlying Meralco braches

WHAT: Picket-protests and request for anti-competition inquiry vs. Meralco and generation companies

WHEN: Today, December 16, 11:00 am

WHERE: Department of Justice (DOJ), Faura, Manila

DETAILS: Members of the Partido ng Manggagawa will have a picket-protest today at the DOJ as their leaders together with other groups and personalities formally ask for an anti-competition inquiry on Meralco’s rate hike. The request will be filed with the Office for Competition which is under the DOJ and was created by E.O. 45 series of 2011.

Also today, the protests vs. Meralco’s fare hike goes to the grassroots and expands outside Metro Manila with a coordinated picketing of Meralco branches:

10:00 am, Tambo, Paranaque and Antipolo, Rizal

3:00 pm, towns of Rosario and Dasmarinas in Cavite

“It is futile to pursue an honest scrutiny of Meralco’s huge rate hike through the ERC which is totally captured by monopolists in the power industry. Instead we hope the Office from Competition can give a fair hearing to the complaint. If Pnoy is serious about investigating Meralco’s hike, then he can do something through the Office for Competition which is under his authority, unlike the ERC,” according to Wilson Fortaleza.

Advisory: Anti-competition inquiry vs Meralco; coordinated picketing of Meralco branches

Groups to ask for anti-competition inquiry

as pickets to be held in outlying Meralco braches

WHAT: Picket-protests and request for anti-competition inquiry vs. Meralco

WHEN: Tomorrow, December 16, 11:00 am

WHERE: Department of Justice (DOJ), Faura, Manila

DETAILS: Members of the Partido ng Manggagawa will have a picket-protest tomorrow at the DOJ as their leaders together with other groups and personalities formally ask for an anti-competition inquiry on Meralco’s rate hike. The request will be filed with the Office for Competition which is under the DOJ and was created by E.O. 45 series of 2011.

Also tomorrow the protests vs. Meralco’s fare hike goes to the grassroots and expands outside Metro Manila with a coordinated picketing of branches in Paranaque, Rizal and Cavite. Between 10:00 am and 11:00 am tomorrow, workers and poor will picket Meralco branches in Tambo, Paranaque; Antipolo, Rizal; and the towns of Rosario and Dasmarinas in Cavite.

“It is futile to pursue an honest scrutiny of Meralco’s huge rate hike thorugh the ERC which is totally captured by monopolists in the power industry. Instead we hope the Office from Competition can give a fair hearing to the complaint. If Pnoy is serious about investigating Meralco’s hike, then he can do something through the Office for Competition which is under his authority, unlike the ERC,” according to Wilson Fortaleza.

Groups say ADB harms workers in the Philippines

Press Release

May 4, 2012      

More than a hundred members of Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) and the Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA) joined the newly-formed Nagkaisa labor coalition in a rally workers rally against the Asian Development Bank (ADB) annual meeting this morning as President Benigno Aquino II was due to give as speech.

“PNoy should not cover up the number of poor in the Philippines and the ADB should not wash its hands off the worsening poverty in the country. The ADB is an instrument of corporate greed that has aggravated the destitution of the 99% in Asia,” asserted Rene Magtubo, PM national chair. “ADB’s privatization intensifies poverty,” the workers chanted as they assembled in Harrison Plaza and then tried to make their way to the PICC, the venue of the meeting.

Magtubo explained that “The ADB meeting’s theme of inclusive growth is mere doubles-speak for its policies of privatization are tailor-fit to facilitate the fire sale of state-owned assets to giant multinationals and big capitalists. As a result of ADB-funded privatization, the costs of electricity and water in the Philippines have skyrocketed and as a result workers real wages have fallen despite yearly increase in nominal wages.”

The ADB pushed for the passage and provided loans for the implementation of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA). In 2000, Magtubo exposed a P500,000 payola for members of the House of Representatives to ensure the legislation of the controversial EPIRA.

The Nagkaisa-led rally of several hundred workers today follows the coalition’s historic 20,000-strong May Day mobilization which brought together the country’s main labor groups for the first time since the 1980’s. “The unity of labor last May 1 has made government listen to our concerns. The rally today is part of the next step—the struggle of workers to make government grant our demands,” Magtubo insisted. Among the list of demands that Nagkaisa submitted to Malacanang last Labor Day is the repeal of EPIRA and the lowering of power costs to consumers.

Magtubo expressed fear that the ADB also has a hand in the proposed privatization of the Agus-Polangi hydroelectric plant in Mindanao as a purported solution to the power crisis in the island. The proposal has been temporarily shelved due to widespread opposition in Mindanao.

He added that “The ADB’s shadow can also be seen in the scheme to sell off to private interests the provision of water services in municipalities. The ADB is Asia’s mini-IMF and mini-WB, and its public relations pitch is a result of the discrediting of the policies of privatization, deregulation and liberalization worldwide.”

Sigaw sa Mayo 1: Regular na Trabaho, Umento sa Sahod, Mababang Presyo

Noong kalagitnaan ng Marso, sa harap ng isang pulong ng mga negosyante ay nanawagan si Pangulong Benigno Aquino III na maging prayoridad ng mga kapitalista ang kagalingan ng mga manggagawa. Tinawag nating “Noy-ngaling” si PNoy dahil kabaliktaran ang kanyang salita ng kanyang gawa. Kung totoong tagapagtanggol ng karapatan at kagalingan ng manggagawa si PNoy ay dapat tinutulan sa halip na sinang-ayunan niya ang tanggalan at kontraktwalisasyon sa Philippine Airlines (PAL). Di lang Noynoying si PNoy kundi Noy-ngaling pa.

Ang darating na Mayo 1 ay ikawalang selebrasyon na ng Araw ng Manggagawa sa ilalim ni PNoy. Noong nakaraang Mayo 1 ay tinuligsa natin siya sa pagpanig sa tanggalan at kontraktwalisasyon sa PAL. Sa kasalukuyan ay dapat nating usigin ang kanyang administrasyon sa patuloy na pagsisinungaling at pagtatraydor sa interes ng manggagawa na pinangakuan niyang ituring na boss.

Ganunpaman, sa harap ng patuloy na pag-iilusyon ng maraming Pilipino sa pamumuno ni PNoy, kasabay ng matalas na propaganda ng pag-usig ay dapat mapakilos ang masang manggagawa sa kagyat na mga kahilingang dapat tugunan ng gobyerno.

Sa Mayo 1, ang ating kagyat na kahilingan ay proteksyon sa regular na trabaho, pagtaas ng sweldo, at pagbaba ng presyo ng kuryente’t langis. Ito ay mga kahilingang nakatuon sa gobyerno ni PNoy upang tugunan at aksyunan. Bukod dito, mangangalampag din tayo sa pagbabago ng patakaran ng liberalisasyon, deregulasyon at pribatisasyon. Gayundin mananawagan tayo ng pagrereporma ng labor justice system.

Ang kampanya para sa regular na trabaho ay napapanatiling buhay ng patuloy na paglaban ng PALEA sa kontraktwalisasyon anim na buwan matapos ang tanggalan. Ang pagbenta ng minority share ng PAL sa San Miguel at pagpapalit ng management ay nagbubukas ng oportunidad para sa resolusyon ng labor dispute.

Pero di pa man nagtatagumpay ang PALEA na maibalik sa trabaho ang mga tinanggal ay naobliga na ang Department of Labor na maglabas ng kautusan kaugnay ng subcontracting. Pinahigpit ang mga rekisitos sa ligal na kontraktwalisasyon at hayagang kinilala na dapat tumanggap ng mga benepisyo ang mga kontraktwal at maari pang magtayo ng unyon. Ganunpaman, pinapanatiling ligal ng DO 18-A ang karamihan ng porma ng kontraktwalisasyon na sanhi ng pagkawasak ng regular na trabaho pati pagkadurog ng mga unyon.

Kumpara sa DO 18-A, hamak na mas mahigpit ang Security of Tenure (SOT) bill na nakasampa sa Kongreso at naglalayong limitahan ang laganap na kontraktwalisasyon. Gayong wala na sa kamay ni PNoy ang kaso ng PALEA, dapat pa rin siyang itulak na gawing priority legislation ang SOT bill.

Umiinit na naman muli ang usapin ng pagtaas ng sahod bunga walang tigil na pagtaas ng presyo ng langis, at kasunod nito ang pasahe’t iba pang batayang pangangailangan. May nagsampa na ng petisyon sa regional wage boards. Sa kabilang banda, nakaamba na ipasa ng House Labor Committee ang panukalang legislated across-the-board wage hike. Malayo pa bago ito maipasang batas pero binibigyang diin nito ang kakagyatan ng umento sa sahod.

Tinanggihan na ni PNoy ang pagtaas ng sahod sa katwirang walang supervening event o grabeng inflation. Ang ganitong Noynoying o kawalang aksyon ni PNoy ay dapat mabatikos habang ineengganyo ang pagkakaisa ng labor groups sa pagsusulong ng pagtaas ng sahod sa anumang porma ito makakamit.

Ang patuloy na pagtaas ng presyo ng langis sa pandaigdigang pamilihan ay mangangahulugan na ibayo pang magliliyab ang usapin ng oil price hike. Pero di ibig sabihin nito na walang magagawa si PNoy kundi mag-Noynoying sa harap ng umaarangkadang global oil prices. Ang pagtatanggal ng VAT sa mga produktong petrolyo ay isang kagyat na hakbang na maaring isagawa. Ang pagrerepaso ng oil deregulation law ay isa na ring buhay na usapin at maaring igiit ang pagbabalik ng price control sa langis bukod sa pagsasabansa ng Petron.

Katulad ng mataas na presyo ng langis, ang mahal na gastusin sa kuryente ay isang ring mabigat na pasanin ng manggagawa at maralita. Ipinagkikibit-balikat lang ng gobyerno ang problemang ito habang tinitiis ng taumbayan ang pasakit na ito. Oras nang repasuhin ang EPIRA o ang deregulasyon at pribatisasyon ng power industry.

Ang deregulasyon at pribatisasyon ng langis at kuryente ay mga matingkad na halimbawa ng delubyong dala ng globalisasyon. Sa kabilang banda, ang liberalisasyon ng ekonomiya ay nagresulta sa pagsasara ng umaabot sa 3,000 empresa bawat taon sa nakalipas na isang dekada at pagkawala ng trabaho ng daan-daang libong manggagawa. Ang hatid ng globalisasyon ay pagguho ng lokal na industriya at agrikultura sa halip na progreso at pag-unlad. Malinaw na ngayon na perwisyo kaysa benepisyo ang dulot ng imperyalistang globalisasyon. Panahon nang ibandila ang panawagan ng pagbabago ng pang-ekonomiyang patakaran.

Kasabay nito dapat maibando ang pagrereporma ng labor justice system. Ang mapait na kapalaran ng flight attendants ng PAL ay nabigyang pokus ng impeachment trial ni Chief Justice Corona. Kapalit ng platinum card ay inimpluwensyahan ni Corona ang pagbawi ng paborableng desisyon sa kaso ng FASAP.

Isang matingkad na halimbawa lang ito kung paano nabibili ng mga kapitalista ang mga husgado at nababaluktot ang hustisya. Kung ang bilyunaryong gaya ni Lucio Tan ay nagagawang impluwensyahan ang Chief Justice ng Korte Suprema, ganundin namamanipula ng mga kapitalista ang arbiters ng NLRC, mediators ng DOLE/NCMB at judges ng mga RTC at Court of Appeals. Di nakakagulat na ang ordinaryong manggagawa ay napipilitang i-areglo ang mga kaso kapalit ng barya kasya mabitag sa mga pasilyo ng labor justice system.

Ang labor unity na nagkahugis sa laban ng PALEA ay maaring punla ng pagkakaisa para isulong ang mga kagyat at pangmatagalang kahilingan. Ang kampanya sa Mayo Uno ay ekstensyon at kontinwasyon ng laban kontra kontraktwalisasyon. Ang malawak na pagkakaisa ng kilusang paggawa ang magbibigay pwersa at magbabasbas ng kredibilidad sa kampanyang Mayo Uno.

Maaga nang nasimulan ang kampanyang Mayo Uno sa pamamagitan ng Kalbaryo ng Manggagawa at Maralita. Pero di dapat magtapos ang kampanya sa isang pagkilos sa Mayo Uno. Ang mga kagyat na kahilingan ay di basta maipapanalo sa Araw ng Manggagawa. At di rin dapat magkasya sa simpleng pagsisigaw ng mga islogan sa Mayo Uno. Ang susunod na yugto at lundo ng laban ay ang pagbubukas ng Kongreso sa Hulyo at SONA ni PNoy. Ang mga kahilingang nangangailangan ng executive action ni PNoy ay maaring ang pokus ng Mayo Uno samantalang ang ibang obligado ang legislative measures ay maari namang tutukan sa SONA.

Meralco at munisipyo ng Valenzuela, nilusob ng mga maralita para igiit ang karapatang makabitan ng linya ng kuryente

PRESS RELEASE

Valenzuela Informal Settlers Federation (VISFED)

Partido ng Manggagawa-Valenzuela

20 September 2011

Galit na nilusob ng may 500 pamilya na kabilang sa Valenzuela Informal Settlers Federation (VISFED) ang tanggapan ng Meralco sa may Barangay Malanday, Valenzuela dahil hanggang sa ngayon ay hindi pa rin natutugunan ang matagal na nilang kahilingan na makabitan ng linya ng kuryente.

Ayon kay Blanda Martinez, pangulo ng VISFED, ilang taon na nilang hiniling sa Meralco na kabitan sila ng linya ng kuryente at naihanda na nga nila ang lahat ng requirement para dito pero hanggang ngayon ay hindi pa rin ito naaksyunan.  

Kabilang sa mga nagprotesta ang mga homeowners association mula sa Chengville, Promiseland, Wawang Pulo, Bagong Nayon, TS Natividad at Assumptionville na matatagpuan sa Barangay Malinta at Barangay Veinte Reales sa lungsod ng Valenzuela.

“Alam namin na kahit kami ay mahirap, karapatan namin na magkaroon hindi lang linya ng kuryente kundi pati ang abot-kayang halaga ng kuryente,” pahayag ni Martinez.

Kung wala umanong koneksyon ng kuryente, apektado maging ang pag-aaral ng mga bata, mas mabigat ang mga gawaing bahay,  at mas malabo ang pag-unlad.

Dagdag pa ni Martinez, “nababalot umano ng kababalaghan” ang mga nangyayari sa branch ng Meralco sa Valenzuela dahil kahit sa kabila ng kanilang compliance sa mga requirements, kabilang ang ability to pay, ay hindi pa rin sila nakakabitan.  Iniutos narin umano ni Valenzuela Mayor Sherwin Gatchalian na kabitan ng kuryente ang naturang mga pamilya pero wala pa ring nangyari. 

Ayon naman kay Partido ng Manggagawa (PM-Valenzuela) spokesman Emmanuel Grefalda na silang tumutulong sa VISFED, nagdududa umano ang mga informal sectors na may sabwatang nagaganap sa pagitan ng Meralco, Urban Poor Affair Office, at Engineering Office ng Valenzuela na hindi kabitan ng kuryente ang sinumang hindi dadaan sa kanilang mga kamay.

Matapos nga ang rally sa Meralco ay dumiretso ang VISFED sa cityhall ng Valenzuela para duon ipagpatuloy ang kanilang protesta.

Sinabi pa ni Grefalda na hindi sila titigil sa protesta hangga’t hindi natutugunan ang kanilang karaingan.

Makikilahok pa nga raw ito sa magaganap na National Day of Protest sa darating na Oktubre 11 laban sa mataas na presyo ng kuryente at pagpapatigil sa pribatisasyon na pangungunahan naman ng Freedom from Debt Coalition.

Protests against high electricity rates continue at grassroots

Press Release
May 7, 2010

Despite the announced reduction in Meralco rates for the month of May, protests against high electricity rates continue. The protests went to the grassroots today as consumers in Paranaque picketed a nearby Meralco branch.

A hundred residents from different Paranaque communities converged at the Tambo branch of Meralco for the protest. The consumers are calling for a bigger reduction in the household electricity rates and a refund of the P15 billion overcharging since 2003 as revealed by a COA audit. Neighborhood associations of Tucuma, Sta. Cecilia, Fatima, Purok 7 in Multinational Village, Wakas and Damayan participated in the picket.

“The fight for lower electricity bills continues. We want a larger decrease in Meralco’s charge. We also want a refund of the overbilling by Meralco,” declared Michelle Licudine, a leader of party-list group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) in Paranaque.

Yesterday PM members joined the Freedom from Debt Coalition in a picket at the Napocor main office and the Meralco branch in Kamuning, Quezon City. PM is calling on consumers to sustain the protest in the streets and in the internet against the high electricity rates despite the announced cuts by Meralco.

“Militant street protests complement the angry blogs, tweets and postings in the internet. Activists in the streets and in cyberspace unite!,” Licudine exclaimed.

She argued that “Public pressure should be put against Meralco and other utilities in the face of the failed regulatory functions by the government and the power firms’ greed for more profit. When regulation fails to protect consumers from corporate greed and abuse, street protests is a must option for the burdened consumers.”

The group assailed the failed promise of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) for lower power rates. “Instead we are in the midst of a power crisis that even threatens to lead to a failure of elections. While people suffer daily brownouts, consumers have to face huge electricity bills. This is a double whammy that we do not to suffer,” Licudine insisted.

PM is calling for a reversal of the privatization of the power industry that was ushered in by the EPIRA. Licudine argued that “From its birth, EPIRA was burdened with an original sin and its evils are only now being revealed for all to see,” Licudine reminded. Former PM party-list representative in Congress Renato Magtubo led the expose on the multi-million payola attending the passage of the EPIRA in year 2000.

Protests continue despite Meralco’s P1.26/kwh reduction in generation charge

PRESS RELEASE
06 May 2010

The labor partylist group, Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) and the Freedom from Debt Coalition proceeded with their planned mass action today against power rate hikes despite Meralco’s announcement that it is cutting its rate by P1.26/kwh beginning this month.

“Meralco’s announcement may have been prepared to diffuse the rapid buildup of protest against its unjust rates,” said PM spokesman Wilson Fortaleza, referring to the growing outbursts against power rate hikes that now even reaches the cyberspace prior to the announcement.

Fortaleza said that despite the announced rate cut, more mass protests should be launched against Meralco and other utilities in the face of the failed regulatory functions by the government and the power firms’ insatiable greed for profit.

“Meralco is a regulated utility. But when regulation fails to protect consumers from corporate greed and repeated abuse, street protests become the necessary option for the hapless consumers,” explained Fortaleza.

Meralco’s rate surged to the highest level this month due to tight supply and the hikes in the price of electricity traded at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM). According to Meralco, its IPPs which provide more than half of Meralco’s requirements were forced to shutdown their operations last month due to routine maintenance at the Malampaya gas field, forcing them to source power at WESM but for more than what is required of them, which is limited to only 10%.

Under the Electric Power Reform Act or EPIRA, Meralco has the obligation to deliver power to its customers at the least cost manner.

“Yet, Meralco always has this predilection of passing the burden of its erroneous practices to its captive clients by way of over-charging and through other forms of corporate fraud,” protested Fortaleza, insisting that instead of a price hike, Meralco rather owe the consumers refundable amounts in over-charging as found in the 2009 COA Audit.

The COA audit revealed that Meralco has over billed its customers by at least P15-B from 2003 onwards.

Before proceeding to the Meralco’s Kamuning branch, PM members made a kick-off protest at the gates of the National Power Corporation (NPC) to highlight what the group claims is the symbol of failed electricity governance.

Some 80% of NPC assets have already been privatized, including many of its pivotal plants. But contrary to what the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) has envisioned in 2001, the privatization program led to more power rate hikes, and now the new episode of power crisis.

“Now who is afraid of people power? Power rate hikes, power crisis, and a failing electoral exercise could be a perfect combination for another one,” concludes Fortaleza.