Editorial: Planning on a month's wage

IN A dissemination of a research study on spending habits of OFWs and their dependents at the Ateneo de Davao University last week, Maria Angela Villalba, executive director of the Unlad Kabayan Migrant Services Foundation Inc., which works with OFWs and for social entrepreneurship, recalled how her Chinese businessman friend pointed out the reason why many Filipinos fail in business.

"Ang lisod sa inyong mga Pilipino (The problem with Filipinos)," Villalba recalled her friend as saying, "Magplano mo sa usa ka bulan ninyong sweldo (You plan your month's salary). You should plan ten years ahead."

Villalba was talking to the OFWs, but she could have been talking to development planners and government as well.

After the last power crisis in the 1990s, the most government came up with was the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 (Epira Law).

The law, like many Philippine laws, was rich in rhetorics.

Among others, the law is supposed to ensure and accelerate total electrification, as well as quality, reliability, security and affordability of electric power.

It also aims "to ensure transparent and reasonable prices of electricity in a regime of free and fair competition and full public accountability to achieve greater operational and economic efficiency and enhance the competitiveness of Philippine products in the global market.

"To protect the public interest as it is affected by the rates and services of electric utilities and other providers of electric power;

"To assure socially and environmentally compatible energy sources and infrastructure; and...

"To promote the utilization of indigenous and new and renewable energy resources in power generation in order to reduce dependence on imported energy."

There are several others, too many to enumerate one by one.

Anyway, we can honestly say that the only time Epira touched our consciousness was at the height of the controversy about independent power producers (IPPs), which was blamed for the high generation charges of the erstwhile National Power Corporation.

It was also Epira that caused the change of name of the National Power Corporation (Napocor) to National Transmission Corporation (Transco) to the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), all in less than ten years.

On the sidelines were investments in power in the form of power barges and coal-power that says nothing about the "socially and environmentally compatible energy sources and infrastructure and utilization of indigenous and new renewable energy sources," which the law was supposed to ensure.

Now, MalacaƱang declared a state of calamity in the whole of Mindanao and the only solution that can be discerned over the hullaballoo of voices is the call to transfer power barges from Visayas to Mindanao. Much like the one-month salary Villalba was talking about.

Power barges, if we recall, are nothing but emergency stop-gap measures soon after the erstwhile National Power Corporation warned of a power crisis by 2010 almost a decade ago. But like all temporary stop-gap solutions in a country that cannot put its acts together for more than three years, the power barges are now regarded as the solution to the crisis. Power barges are run by diesel -- expensive, imported, and yes, not socially and environmentally compatible.

As the sun shines on with very little hope of enough rain to refill Lake Lanao, the government continues to woo multi-billion peso locators for the call center industry, the tourism industry, and yes, the malls, but drags its foot in planning for and implementing the vital infrastructures that should all be set up for the profitable operation of all these, power infrastructure included.

In the news, government proposes to give incentives to companies who will lease or import power generators. Bring your own power, government seems to be saying.

Trending

No stories found.

Just in

No stories found.

Branded Content

No stories found.
SunStar Publishing Inc.
www.sunstar.com.ph