Friday, August 03, 2007 Lawmakers nix emergency powers for Arroyo
* Seeking emergency powers is just an option, Palace clarifies
SENATE President Manuel Villar on Thursday said the Arroyo administration needs emergency funds, not emergency powers, to deal with the looming power crisis as a result of the dry spell affecting Luzon.
Villar said instead of asking Congress for extraordinary powers to hasten the purchase of goods needed to mitigate the effects of the prolonged dry season, Malacañang should instead augment funds for programs that would reduce the impact of the abnormal weather phenomenon on agriculture and water supply in Luzon.
He said the biggest source for the anti-drought initiative is the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act (Afma), which has with a P20 billion outlay in the 2007 national budget.
At the House of Representatives, House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. and opposition lawmakers objected to Arroyo's plan to ask Congress to extend special powers to the President.
De Venecia said it would be impossible for Congress to grant special powers since the drought is only limited to Northern Luzon and not nationwide.
He explained that the situation now is entirely different compared to the time of former President Fidel Ramos who also asked for emergency powers then because the energy crisis was felt nationwide.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita earlier said Arroyo may seek emergency powers from Congress to deal with the water and power problem as the dry spell has caused several dams in Luzon to reach critical levels, thus hampering the generation of power for consumers in the country's largest island.
Villar inquired on the status of the P7 billion allotted for "irrigation services" for 2007. "The money is there. The President has residual powers to realign funds in the national budget under her disposal to projects that would address the water crisis. Ang problema lang kasi parang may drought sa pondo (the only problem is that there is somewhat a drought in funds also)," he said.
Bayan Muna party-list Representative Teodoro Casiño laughed off the request for emergency powers saying "it is ridiculous to give President Arroyo emergency powers to solve the power and water shortage."
He suspects something sinister behind the emergency powers being asked by Malacanang.
Anakpawis party-list Representative Crispin Beltran for his part, urged Congress not to grant the emergency powers that may be sought by Arroyo saying "Congress should not be a party to this. There are more than enough means and ways available to the president to solve this crisis. We are also against the executive using the drought as an excuse to appropriate extra powers."
He said Arroyo and her Cabinet should rethink their economic strategies of full privatization in the electricity and water industries.
Beltran also said an immediate and effective solution would also be for the government to sequester the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) and regulate the operations of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) and the local water districts.
Meanwhile, Malacañang clarified that asking for emergency powers from Congress is only one of the options available to President Arroyo in addressing the effects of the dry spell.
"This is only one of the possible options, but we are doing whatever needs to be done in order to mitigate the situation," said Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye.
Bunye also said several government agencies are engaged in continuous cloud-seeding operations in order to mitigate the problem "but we should be open to other options should the primary measures not bear fruit as intended."
He told senators who are opposing the plan that everybody should be concerned about the potential problem that the country is facing. (CPB/JMR/Sunnex)
