Protests vs. Meralco rate hike spreads outside Manila as coordinated picketing staged

Press Release

December 16, 2013

The militant Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) staged a coordinated picketing of Meralco branches as protests against the huge power rate hike intensified at the grassroots level and spread outside Metro Manila. Meralco branches in Paranaque, Rizal and Cavite were picketed this morning and afternoon by several hundred workers and urban poor.

Also today, the PM spokesperson together with leaders of other groups formally asked for an anti-competition inquiry on Meralco’s rate hike. The request was filed with the Office for Competition which is under the DOJ and was created by E.O. 45 series of 2011.

“If competition exists in the power industry then business interests would collide but under EPIRA, the players collude,” stressed Wilson Fortaleza, PM spokesperson, as he joined the filing of the request for inquiry on unfair competition against Meralco and generation companies.

He added that “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.”

At 10:00 am today, PM members trooped to the Meralco branch in Tambo, Paranaque and Antipolo City in Rizal. Later at 3:00 pm, other PM members in Cavite picketed branches in the towns of Rosario and Dasmarinas.

In the next few days, PM will continue the series of protests with pickets in Marilao, Bulacan and GMA, Cavite.

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.

MRT/LRT rate hike unfair and unjust – labor group

PRESS RELEASE

12 December 2013

The Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) renewed its call for the government to forego its plan to raise the tariff rates in the MRT and LRT systems by additional P10 during a public consultations held today.

PM spokesperson Wilson Fortaleza, said that while workers are very much interested in making their daily train travel safer and more comfortable through improved services, removing the state subsidy to millions of commuters through a fare hike further deepens the inequality and poverty in this country, notwithstanding the failure of the government to bare the real score justifying the increase.

He likewise complained that the public hearing today can never be intelligent and participatory since none of the documents that they were asking from DOTC since August this year were provided before its conduct.

Nevertheless, PM participated in the hearing to make its opposition official while several of its members holding “Palag sa P10 dagdag!” placards held a picket outside the LRT 2 depo in Pasig City where the consultation is being held.

In the consultation, PM had raised the following grounds to back their opposition to the planned P10 fare hike:

1.       The real amount of subsidy to MRT-LRT consumers (P45 for MRT and 25 for LRT) as presented by President Aquino during his State of the Nation Address this year was erroneous as he compared the cost of subsidy to the rates of air-conditioned buses in Edsa. The group’s own estimate puts the figure to just P13 per passenger ride.

2.     It is highly unfair and unequal to remove the annual P6-B subsidy to some 400 million train riders while providing the few VIP’s in government with at least P8-B travel subsidy, including the P1-M per day travel subsidy to the President and P180,000 to the DOTC secretary. PM asserts that subsidy is a necessary social tool amid inequality and poverty in the country.

3.     Ordinary workers will be mostly affected by the fare hike.  Based on the 2007 Mega Manila Public Transport Study, 67.7% MRT and LRT users earn less the P10,000 per month or less than the mandated minimum wage while another 15%, most probably students, are ‘without income’ in their economic profile.

4.   Costs borne out of onerous contracts, corporate fraud, or flawed executive decisions should not be passed on to consumers. The government should rather conduct an honest-to-goodness inquiry into allegations that the private consortium MRTC and other parties have defrauded the government and the people under the onerous BLT contract.  If such is proven, PM demands that the BLT contract rescinded at no further cost to the government.  Any liabilities accrued from such onerous or fraudulent transactions must be shared by the contracting parties and not passed on to commuters.

5.  The fare hike is a prelude to privatization.  PM maintains its position that vital public utilities such as the MRT/LRT system remain in the public sphere.

The group argued that privatization is neither the tuwid na daan, nor the way towards inclusive growth. 

“The country has had enough of devastating privatization experience in vital industries such as power and water.  With the latest hike in Meralco rates of P4.15/kwh, we can now pride ourselves as a third world country with power rates that of the first world,” concluded Fortaleza.

Advisory: Workers to picket LRT/MRT fare hike hearing

WHAT: Picket protest vs. proposed LRT/MRT fare hike

WHEN: Today, December 12, 1:30 pm

WHERE: LRT 2 Santolan, Pasig station/depot

DETAILS: Members of the Partido ng Manggagawa will have a picket-protest while their representatives will present a critique of the proposed LRT/MRT fare hike. The LRT/MRT fare hike hearing is schedule tomorrow at 2:00 pm. In its presentation, PM will assert that the fare hike is unjust and unnecessary.