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.
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