Palace to public: Help ensure success of automated polls
By Paolo Romero
The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang decried yesterday people spreading rumors of a failure of elections on May 10 and called on the public to remain vigilant and help the [...]]]> Tweet

Palace to public: Help ensure success of automated polls
By Paolo Romero
The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang decried yesterday people spreading rumors of a failure of elections on May 10 and called on the public to remain vigilant and help the Commission on Elections (Comelec) ensure the successful conduct of the country’s first nationwide automated polls.

The Comelec, on the other hand, dismissed speculations of a failure of elections that could favor President Arroyo, saying it is considering an independent unofficial partial count of the election results.

Executive Secretary Leandro Mendoza commented on various allegations – including that of Liberal Party standard-bearer Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III – that the Arroyo administration was planning to sabotage the polls to prolong its grip on power.

“We are doing everything to make these elections very credible and the last thing that we should have is a failure of elections. I don’t think that’s good for the country,” Mendoza said.

No failure of elections

Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal, meanwhile, said the poll body is deliberating whether to allow the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) and the Kapisan ng mga Broadcaster sa Pilipinas (KBP) to conduct a separate tally of the results of the May 2010 polls.

Larrazabal said the proposal is for the PPCRV and KBP to consolidate the election returns or tally data from the Comelec’s website.

“As soon as the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines transmit the results, we will make the data available in the website and to the majority and minority parties,” he said.

He, however, emphasized that the poll body is discussing ways to prevent the possibility of “trending,” which could affect the credibility of election results.

“The thrust is that we will be releasing data every so often to keep the people abreast of what is happening, but posting the running total will still be discussed,” the commissioner said.

The sum of all fears

The idea of a parallel count sits well with Nacionalista Party standard-bearer Sen. Manny Villar Jr., even as he admitted that he also had doubts about the automated system.

Sen. Edgardo Angara, on the other hand, reiterated his calls for the election of a new senate president to forestall “chaos after President Arroyo’s term expires on June 30.

“I have been in Mindanao lately and people there have been experiencing eight hours of power failure each day. If power shortage leads to automation failure in Mindanao, that’s 25 to 30 percent of votes gone,” he said.

Angara, who is one of the senators whose term lasts up to 2013, said that without results of the elections for national positions by noon of June 30 when the terms of the president, vice president, Senate president, and House speaker expire, “a frontier area will result, where he who has guns will be the winner.”

He noted that shifting to manual elections in problematic areas could also delay the results of elections for the national posts, amid the apparent lack of preparation of the Comelec and the political parties for manual counting.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile’s term ends this June, although he is seeking reelection.

Under the law, the Senate President is third in the order of succession to the presidency.

Angara said there is no question among his colleagues that the election of a new Senate president could assuage fears of a leadership vacuum.

There is also a possibility that the counting of votes for congressional and local candidates could be finished way ahead of those for national positions in the May elections, with Pres. Arroyo winning in Pampanga’s congressional race and being elected as House Speaker.

The speaker is fourth in the line of succession to the presidency.

Check Comelec expenditures

But the manual counting and the possible power vacuum in case of a failure of elections are not the only problems that need to be addressed, according to Senate Minority leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr.

Pimentel called on the Congressional Oversight Committee on Automated Election System to convene to help Comelec Chairman Jose Melo ensure the proper use of extra funds.

“There is so much money at the disposal of the Comelec that the temptation to provide operators with golden parachutes for their retirement is so great,” Pimentel said.

More than P2 billion was allocated for the cost of the election automation with Smartmatic aside from the P10 billion allotted for its operation under the national budget.

“For instance, the Comelec will have to deliver 76,340 ballot boxes to the election registrars of 120 cities and 1,501 municipalities. The total cost of transportation of those ballot boxes would sit at P519 million. That means that the cost of transportation per ballot box is P6,800,” he said. – With Mayen Jaymalin, Ding Cervantes, Christina Mendez, Rainier Allan Ronda, Perseus Echeminada, Eva Visperas

He added that there is unverified information that another P499 million has been set aside for the delivery of the ballot boxes to 1,600 treasurers throughout the country.

Perlas: Postpone the elections

But independent presidential candidate Nicanor Perlas is painting a grimmer scenario.

Perlas called for a postponement of the national elections by three months, doubting the poll body’s ability to pull off the automated elections.

He said the glitches that plagued the recent Hong Kong absentee voting serves as proof of the Comelec’s lack of readiness.

He also noted that calls are being made for a review of the indelible ink contract and bidding process and took notice that the Comelec admitted in a forum that the winners will not be known within 48 hours due to the sheer number of candidates.

“The way things are being handled by the Comelec, the automated system will be the black hole of the election. Pushing through with the May 10 elections will just further plunge the country into chaos that is potentially violent,” he said.

Partido ng Masang Pilipino senatorial bet Jose de Venecia III, for his part, said the Comelec should remove its blinders and stop pretending that a “failure of elections scenario” is inconceivable. – Mayen Jaymalin, Ding Cervantes, Christina Mendez, Rainier Allan Ronda, Perseus Echeminada, Eva Visperas

Senatorial bets discuss teachers’ rights, going nuclear amid power crisis
NIKKA CORSINO
GMANews.TV

Senatorial candidates on Friday discussed the country’s present education system, stressing the need for protective legislation for teachers, who they said, must be spared from election obligations in succeeding polls.

Other [...]]]> Tweet

Senatorial bets discuss teachers’ rights, going nuclear amid power crisis
NIKKA CORSINO
GMANews.TV

Senatorial candidates on Friday discussed the country’s present education system, stressing the need for protective legislation for teachers, who they said, must be spared from election obligations in succeeding polls.

Other issues discussed during Friday’s Unang Hirit’s Hiritan 2010: Senatorial Edition were solutions to the country’s current energy shortage, including a push for nuclear power; as well as the empowerment of the middle-class.

While welcoming poll automation, Liberal Party’s Sonia Roco (an educator) said teachers serving during elections are subjected to harassment. She suggested that public school teachers should not be made to serve in elections in the next polls.

“Magaling po ang mga guro natin… pero kung binibigyan po natin ang mga guro natin ng napakadaming responsibilidad na hindi ugnay sa pagtuturo, tulad ng pagbabantay sa eleksyon, dapat hindi na sila ang magbabantay dahil they’re subjected to a lot of harassment. Alisin po natin sa kanila ang [pamumulitika]. Huwag na po natin silang gawing active in the political process,” Roco said.

(We have excellent teachers, but they should not be burdened anymore with work that is unrelated to teaching – serving in elections – because they are subjected to a lot of harassment. Let’s spare our teachers from the political process.)

Also, Roco stressed that the education budget, particularly for state colleges and universities, must be reviewed first before proposals for budget increase should be made.

Meanwhile, Nacionalista Party’s Senator Pia Cayetano said she would continue to push for higher pay for teachers after the Senate overhauled a proposed measure teachers’ pay.

“We have unprogrammed funds – more than P100 billion, P56 billion from the motor vehicle fund, na walang destino (that are not allocated yet). Hindi natin alam kung saan ginagamit. Madali hong gamitin iyon (We do not know where they are used, and these are easy to reallocate to the education budget),” Cayetano said.

Former Cebu governor Emilio ‘Lito’ Osmeña, who is known for his administration’s development programs that triggered an economic boom in Cebu, said that the salaried class must be empowered to boost the economy further.

“We really have to develop the middle class. That’s the success of Cebu. How do we do that? First, by not punishing the biggest contributors to this government—the salaried class. The members of the GSIS, the members of the SSS, that money should be used only for them, and not for banks,” Osmeña said.

Osmeña, who is running under Progressive Movement for the Devolution of Initiatives (PROMDI) also served as chief economic adviser to former President Fidel V. Ramos.

Energy shortage

With public outcry over recent rotating brownouts stemming from energy shortage, Agusan del Sur Rep. Rodolfo “Ompong” Plaza of the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino suggested nuclear power as the long-term solution.

I think in the long-term facing a big problem brought by El Niño, and eventually, we must add the base load generating power. Since using coal does not conform to the Clean Air Act), let’s be honest to ourselves, nuclear power is the ultimate solution, Plaza said in Filipino.

Cayetano, however, suggested renewable energy sources to solve the shortage instead and blamed the Arroyo administration’s inaction on the problem:

“Nakakalungkot ho dahil itong problemang ito ay dapat nabigyan na ng pansin ng administrasyon noon pang six years ni GMA. Napo-project po ang pangangailangan. It is their responsibility.”

(This problem should have been acted upon by the Arroyo administration as early as six years ago. They should have been able to project the country’s future energy requirements.)

“Mas mahal ang renewable energy, pero mas maganda naman sa kalikasan. So kailangang may balance. Marami pa tayong reserba sa Palawan na pwede pang gamitin for natural gas,” Cayetano added.

(While renewable energy is costlier, it is friendlier to the environment, so we must try to strike a balance. We still have a lot of reserves in Palawan that could still be used for natural gas.)

The four senatorial bets were all guests on UH Hiritan 2010 on Friday. — LBG, GMANews.TV

‘Energy crisis needs to be resolved soon’
By Jose Rodel Clapano
The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines – Former President Joseph Estrada said yesterday that the next Chief Executive must prioritize resolving the energy crisis.

Estrada expressed frustration over alleged corruption and incompetence at the [...]]]> Tweet

‘Energy crisis needs to be resolved soon’
By Jose Rodel Clapano
The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines – Former President Joseph Estrada said yesterday that the next Chief Executive must prioritize resolving the energy crisis.

Estrada expressed frustration over alleged corruption and incompetence at the Department of Energy, which is causing the present power crisis in the country.

“As far back as two years ago, at the height of the rice crisis, analysts were already saying that the country will be facing an energy crisis in 2010. Why did the government sleep on this?” he said.

“The problem with this present government is that they do not appoint men of competence. A president must appoint men of unquestionable integrity and competence. The best example is in the field of energy, they appointed Angelo Reyes (chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines during his administration). What does he know about energy?” Estrada said.

“In the field of energy we need long-term solutions. You cannot rush it. I will call a meeting of the best minds in the field of energy to come together at the beginning of my term so that by the end of my term the Philippines can be the leading country in Asia especially in the field of alternative energy,” he said.

CBCP: Clergy may join revolt
By Evelyn Macairan
The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines – A ranking official of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said yesterday some members of the clergy are planning to join another popular revolt in the event of [...]]]> Tweet

CBCP: Clergy may join revolt
By Evelyn Macairan
The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines – A ranking official of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said yesterday some members of the clergy are planning to join another popular revolt in the event of a failure of elections.

Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Iniguez, CBCP Public Affairs Committee chairman, said a failure of elections where no president is proclaimed would force people to take to the streets.

“This (event) is one of those instances when the people would need guidance (from us),” Iniguez said.

Iniguez clarified that it is up to each member of the CBCP to decide whether to join such protest actions.

Iniguez said the statements made by Malacañang officials in playing up the scenario of a military takeover in the event of scuttled elections are not helping President Arroyo.

Iniguez appealed to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to exert all effort to ensure that the elections on May 10 would be clean and peaceful.

Comelec Chairman Jose Melo called on critics to stop discussing a scenario that he said will never happen.

“Let us not talk about failure of elections. There will be elections nationwide,” Melo said.

Melo noted that talk of a failure of elections snowballed following the pronouncement of deputy presidential spokesperson Charito Planas, who played up the possibility of a military junta taking over the government if elections fall through.

Melo said the declaration of failure of elections occurs only in isolated cases, such as in areas where violence prevents the people from casting their votes.

“Failure of elections happens for reasons that cannot be controlled like when there is violence and the people opted not to go out and vote,” Melo explained.

Melo said such a scenario occurring on a nationwide scale was highly improbable because the elections on May 10 would be fully automated.

Commissioner Rene Sarmiento earlier advised the public to simply go out and vote on May 10 to defeat the possibility of a failure of elections.

“Even if the all precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines did not work on Election Day – which is impossible – elections will still occur if the voters showed up and voted… these ballots can still be appreciated and counted manually, just like in the past elections,” Sarmiento explained.

Under the Omnibus Election Code, the Comelec can only declare a failure of elections if the voters are not able to cast their votes due to forces beyond their control like earthquake, tsunami, terrorist attack or other violent incidents.

Self-defeating attitude

Administration presidential candidate Gilberto Teodoro, for his part, said talk of a failure of elections are pure speculation and pessimism.

“For me, I would speculate that we should focus on who wins in (the) elections. We must win in the elections and when we speculate on no proclamation, that is very, very self defeating,” he said.

Teodoro made the remark in reaction to his cousin, Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino, warning of another people power revolt in the event of a failure of elections.

“It’s now incumbent on the Comelec to ensure that there would be credible, honest and acceptable elections,” the former Defense chief said.

Teodoro said talking about the possibility of a failure of elections at this point is short of admitting losing the presidential elections.

Lakas-Kampi-CMD senatorial candidate Rey Langit urged candidates to stop floating the idea of another people power revolution, saying this was a mere hypothetical issue, doing more harm than good to the country.

Langit said the ordinary people would suffer the brunt of ensuing political and economic instability, proven by the two EDSA revolts and several failed coup attempts.

Another senatorial candidate, Hector Tarrazona, also sees another popular revolt in the event of a failure of elections.

Tarrazona, of Ang Kapatiran party, said he saw what he called a “striking similarity” of the events that led to the two popular revolts that unseated two sitting presidents in 1986 and 2001.

Tarrazona, a retired Air Force colonel, pointed out the appointments of favorite military and police officials to key posts had destroyed professionalism in the ranks that led to the ouster of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos in 1986.

He claimed a growing demoralization among key officials in the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police who were bypassed in the appointments.

Tarrazona likened the scenario in 1986 to the current situation, warning that if President Arroyo would push through on her alleged plans to stay beyond her term on June 30, a popular revolt would result, and this time, it might not be peaceful.

“My feeling is that it could be bloody if President Arroyo (pushes) herself,” he said.

Caretaker president

Talks on the possible failure of elections and no proclamation of a new president prompted several lawmakers to propose a measure on succession.

Sen. Rodolfo Biazon had proposed a caretaker president, citing the widespread apprehensions that the elections might fail due to the still unsolved power shortage problem in Mindanao and possible glitches in the automated balloting process.

Biazon also noted the fact that the terms of office of all three constitutional successors – Vice President Noli de Castro, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Speaker Prospero Nograles – are expiring at noon on June 30, along with that of President Arroyo.

In the event of an election failure and none of the three can assume the presidency even temporarily, it is feared that Mrs. Arroyo might hold on to power with the support of the military and the Supreme Court.

But other lawmakers led by Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez said the proposal for Congress to choose a caretaker president in case there is a failure of elections on May 10 will run afoul of the Constitution.

“There is no such thing in the Constitution. A caretaker president is not among the three constitutional successors to the presidency,” he said.

Rodriguez said there is no need for a caretaker president as Biazon proposes, as incumbent senators can actually ensure the line of succession is not broken.

Rodriguez suggested that once it is clear after May 10 that there would be problems in determining the winning presidential and vice presidential candidates, senators could elect a replacement for Enrile.

“The replacement should come from the 12 whose terms of office will expire in 2013 so that at noon on June 30, he can take over from Mrs. Arroyo as acting president until the president-elect or vice president-elect is proclaimed,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez said this is in accordance with Article VII (Executive Department) Section 7 of the Constitution, which reads:

“Where no President and Vice President shall have been chosen or shall have qualified, or where both shall have died or become permanently disabled, the President of the Senate, or in case of his inability, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, shall act as President until a President or Vice President shall have been chosen and qualified.”

“It is clear from this provision that incumbent senators hold the key to preventing an extended term for GMA or a military takeover in case elections fail,” Rodriguez stressed.

He said senators could elect their new leader on May 31, when Congress resumes session principally to canvass the votes for president and vice president.

“By then, it should be clear if there would be problems in proclaiming the winning presidential and vice presidential candidates,” Rodriguez said.

Enrile, who is seeking reelection, has expressed willingness to relinquish his post “at the proper time.”

Enrile said he himself would initiate the selection of his replacement if there were a failure of elections on May 10. -With Jess Diaz, Jaime Laude, Mayen Jaymalin, Perseus Echeminada

The DOE’s Php 10 Billion Deal
By Dean De La Paz
Filipino Voices

The plan was to skip the safeguards, skirt congressional debate and virtually write a Php 10 billion check for 160 megawatt (mw) generators for Mindanao. One reader says let’s cut through [...]]]> Tweet

The DOE’s Php 10 Billion Deal
By Dean De La Paz
Filipino Voices

The plan was to skip the safeguards, skirt congressional debate and virtually write a Php 10 billion check for 160 megawatt (mw) generators for Mindanao. One reader says let’s cut through the crap. Let’s do that. Let us analyze this deal from the perspective of accounting, tariffs, and cost-benefits.

Freed from checks, of the amount open to risk and spending-as-they-please (anything from matches and kindling to rain dancers and glow worms), half comes from calamity funds, another, from contingencies. By applying the US$ 1.0 million per megawatt benchmark for the development of diesel-fired plants, Php 20 billion calamity and contingency funds can buy 444.50 megawatts at Php 45.00 to the dollar.

The ratio assumes capitalized expenditures (capex) depreciated over continuous annual cash flows. Of that 25% are pre-operating development plus financing charges, while from 55% (for Japanese-branded engines) to 75% (for European-branded equipment) are capex.

If diesels generators were purchased by the National Power Corporation (NPC), cost capitalization applies and capex depreciates thus allowing fewer encumbrances on downstream tariffs. Unfortunately, NPC does not have that kind of money for a crisis they predicted would hit in 2008 when Mindanao’s 1,697mw demand surpassed 1,681mw capacities.

Ad hoc cabinet gatekeepers should crunch the math before opening their mouths. Should local government units (LGU) lease or buy 160mw generators, both ways, acquisition is charged in the present.

Under government accounting protocols, equipment acquisition must be expensed in real-time. Calamity and contingent funds are not allowed depreciation when expended by LGUs. Their acquisition costs cannot be capitalized over time. Together with real-time lease charges, operation and maintenance (O&M) and fuel costs inflict inordinately heavy burdens on tariffs when we consider that the crisis is quickly washed off by the coming rains.

When the Energy Department pushed for emergency powers they estimated the cost of the Mindanao fix between Php 8 billion to Php 10 billion. Where did they get those numbers?

At Php 10 billion for leases, the effective expense of US$ 1.40 million/mw against capital expenditures ranging from US$ 550 thousand to US$ 750 thousand per megawatt is excessive. There would be no financing or pre-operating costs. For every dollar only from 39% to 54% goes to generating capacity. This raises red flags. The fudge represents funds risked to “other costs”, corruption and windfalls for middlemen.

Until the rains come in July, that’s a monthly operating expense of Php 2.5 billion against the estimates of business losses of Php 1.0 billion from revenues foregone and incremental expenses from self-generating units. If Php 2.5 billion includes fuel and O&M charges, the unsubsidized fuel-cost soars north from Php 19.60 to over Php 24.11 per kilowatt-hour. Higher if fuel costs were not included.

Why? The emergency funds must cover leasing, O&M and fuel costs. Our basis is NPC’s Small Power Utilities Group (SPUG) full costs and subsidies.

Modulars run on diesel, barges, on bunker. Bunker is cheaper. Officials want diesel-fired 160 megawatt modulars forgetting the four dormant bunker-fired 242mw barges moored off Navotas.

Fuel costs for SPUG’s bunker-fired plants range from Php 12.00/kwh to Php 18.00/kwh. When generators cost US$ 1.4 million/mw, minimum diesel costs start from Php 19.60/kwh to Php 24.11/kwh. Costs per kilowatt-hour increase given load factors of 90% and below. Sensitivity runs indicate as much as Php 25.29/kwh. Now add leasing and O&M.

Back to the bigger picture, the net effects are additional losses of at least Php 5 million where the Php 1.0 billion monthly business losses vanish but are replaced by total monthly costs of Php 2.5 billion (Php 10 billion divided by four months) and astronomical increases in tariffs.

After spending Php 10 billion, over Php 750 million in residual monthly losses will continue as the 160mw patchwork hardly covers Mindanao’s 650mw deficiency.

On logistics, because modulars come in increments of 1.0mw and 2.0mw units, 160mw entails at least eighty separate power purchase agreements (PPA) where each PPA creates a Gordian knot of stranded asset and contract costs. Because of the abbreviated crisis period, take-or-pay provisions are likely.

In summary, government accounting compels real-time expenses. The benchmark equipment costs, whether leased or purchased, allow margins that license corruption. The per kilowatt-hour charges for this 160mw scare, skirt and suck strategy show suddenly-bloated tariffs. By expensing Php 2.5 billion to mitigate Php 1.0 billion in monthly losses in the Garci and Ampatuan sandbox, this ludicrous gambit adds to the Mindanao curse as it falls short of the temporary deficiency but recklessly allows unchecked, corruption-prone leeway.

Take politics out of power sector–Teodoro
Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines—The next administration should ensure a transparent and politics-free power sector if it wants to attract investment in new generation capacity and finally put an end to power problems.

Speaking at the Wallace Business Forum [...]]]> Tweet

Take politics out of power sector–Teodoro
Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines—The next administration should ensure a transparent and politics-free power sector if it wants to attract investment in new generation capacity and finally put an end to power problems.

Speaking at the Wallace Business Forum roundtable discussion yesterday, administration presidential candidate Gilbert Teodoro said there was clearly no quick fix to the supply shortage that the country is currently experiencing.

Such band-aid solutions as importing modular generators and deployment of power barges will do for now, but what the country needs is something long-term and sustainable, according to Teodoro.

Transparency

“There’s a lack of generating capacity, so we need to get investments in that. What [a Teodoro administration] can guarantee is transparency in all transactions,” he said.

“We have to address the problem of long-term assurance of non-political controversies for the sector. We have to be transparent in negotiations,” he said.

According to Teodoro, many Filipinos believe that the only way to ensure transparency in transactions is to have them go through public bidding.

“But you can have a requisite amount of transparency in negotiations. These just have to be conducted under the right terms,” he said.

In terms of regulatory stability, he said the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) was actually “doing a good job” of setting rates and looking after consumer welfare.

As for an issue that is a major concern to power sector investors—that of the Supreme Court reversing decisions made by the regulatory body—Teodoro said the high tribunal was in a position to step in because the ERC was a quasi-judicial body.

Renewable energy

However, the high court “should just stick to determining whether or not there was grave abuse of discretion, and leave the rate-setting to the ERC,” he said.

Teodoro also expressed his support for renewable energy, but stressed that the use of such resources should ultimately result in reasonable power rates.

“We have to strike a balance between sustainable and renewable and affordable,” he said.

“In the long run, we have to have sustainable renewable energy, but we would have to appoint a good steward for this. [Former Energy Secretary Francisco] Viray is a good choice,” he said.

He also believes that the country should explore the nuclear power option, but only if safety and waste disposal issues can be addressed.

“We have to tackle the safety issue and waste disposal. If we can get a good system for disposing waste, then we should invest in nuclear power generation. As for the location, there are 7,107 islands in the Philippines. I’m sure we can find a non-controversial island where we can place a nuclear power plant,” he said.

“There is also the need to educate people on the safety issues. We have to tell them that it will be cheaper and cleaner to produce power from nuclear sources. People have to be educated,” he added.

But he said resuscitating the mothballed 620-megawatt Bataan Nuclear Power Plant was not the way to go.

“It’s really not feasible,” Teodoro said.

Abigail L. Ho

GMA cronies took advantage of Mindanao power crisis – Erap
The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines –   Former President Joseph Estrada accused yesterday the Arroyo administration of causing the power crisis in Mindanao to “line the pockets” of associates.

Speaking to reporters at the Pwersa ng [...]]]> Tweet

GMA cronies took advantage of Mindanao power crisis – Erap
The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines –   Former President Joseph Estrada accused yesterday the Arroyo administration of causing the power crisis in Mindanao to “line the pockets” of associates.

Speaking to reporters at the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) national headquarters in Mandaluyong, Estrada said the power crisis in Mindanao could have been avoided had the administration acted on it properly.

“The Arroyo administration did not take any concrete steps to avoid the calamity,” he said.

“It actually concocted the crisis as another means to line the pockets of its favored cronies yet again and further savage the economy.”

Estrada said if allowed to go unchecked, the power crisis in Mindanao could derail the elections on May 10.

“This government is not interested in solving the problem, a problem of its own making,” he said.

“It precipitated the crisis precisely to give them the reason to defraud the people through yet another graft scheme.”

Estrada said the daily eight-hour power outage in Mindanao could last till election day.

“It’s a very dire scenario that evokes all sorts of grim projections, including a failure of elections that could trigger tragic consequences,” he said.

“I don’t lightly throw accusations, but all available evidence point to this conclusion.

“The power shortage was preventable with just a little foresight and a modicum of honesty.”

Estrada said on a daily basis, the load requirement in Mindanao is 500 to 650 megawatts and the daily peak load requirement ranges from 1,200 to 1,380 megawatts.

The deficit is 600 to 750 megawatts as a result of the eight to 12-hour daily blackouts, he added.

Estrada said by declaring a state of calamity in Mindanao, Mrs. Arroyo is allowing the national government and local governments to allocate funds for the crisis without clarifying how it would be used.

“As if on cue, Rep. Mikey Arroyo, the President’s son, proposed allocation of P10 billion ostensibly to solve the problem,” he said.

Estrada said under Mikey’s proposal, P4.5 billion of the P10 billion will go to agriculture, while the rest of the P5.5 billion will be used to lease 160 modular generators each with one megawatt capacity.

“Why are they preparing for only 160 megawatts, when the deficit is 600 to 750 megawatts?” he asked.

“Enough of fooling the people. The problem in Mindanao has a solution and the solution to the problem does not include a scheme for tongpats!” referring to the practice of excess charges for profit.

Estrada said based on his computations, the government only needs P2.1 billion, not P5.5 billion to lease generating sets that can produce 160 megawatts.

“The cost of 160 one-megawatt generators for six months is as follows: P624 million in rent, P1.382 billion in fuel consumption and P80 million in mobilization/demobilization,” he said.

“That will add up to only P2.086 billion. So there is a remaining of P3.4 billion. Where will they use this huge amount of money? It smells of corruption.”

Estrada said the government’s claim that it will only generate 160 megawatts is highly suspicious because the deficit is 600 megawatts, which will cost P20.6 billion to produce using their formula.

“Meaning to say, if the people complain again, these greedy will ask another P13.1 billion,” he said.

“Isn’t it a clear tongpats? This does not include the newly announced $100 million or P4.8 billion that Mrs. Arroyo has ordered the Development Bank of the Philippines and Land Bank of the Philippines to borrow from the private sector, which will they will rake in from the generator set. They are using the crisis to profit.”

Estrada said the government should encourage the private sector to engage in bayanihan, or the neighborly practice of helping each other out.

“Let us enlist the participation of the private sector,” he said.

“Let us ask our countrymen, particularly the big capitalists, to be thrifty in using power. Let us encourage the big corporations to use their generators especially during peak hours.

“We can persuade business corporations and rich households to cut down power consumption by at least 10 percent.

“That will amount to 120 megawatts. We will also appeal to these firms to keep their emergency generators running.”   – Jose Rodel Clapano

Not out of the woods yet
By Conrado de Quiros
Philippine Daily Inquirer

There are five reasons to worry about the elections.

One is president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo assuming emergency powers to deal with emergencies of her making. The first time she did that was [...]]]> Tweet

Not out of the woods yet
By Conrado de Quiros
Philippine Daily Inquirer

There are five reasons to worry about the elections.

One is president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo assuming emergency powers to deal with emergencies of her making. The first time she did that was when the Ampatuans showed signs of restiveness after one of their own was hauled in for the massacre of their enemies. Zaldy Ampatuan’s lawyer articulated their thinking by expostulating against the way Arroyo repaid the Ampatuans “after all they’ve done for her.” Now she has assumed emergency powers to deal with the power crisis in Mindanao. That is not something she can lay at the door of her predecessors. She’s had nine years to deal with it, but after borrowing more money than the last two (real) presidents, she has just brought back the power blackouts.

How exactly Mindanao’s need for electrical power can be met by giving someone additional political power only Arroyo can say. Maybe she figures pare-pareho lang ’yan, it’s all about power. But the people who are fretting about it have every reason to fret. Once is an accident, twice is a pattern. What now if under the exceedingly hot sun of summer (exceptionally so this year) the rest of the country dries up, and what now if under the exceedingly slimy hands of those with political power the rest of the country loses electrical power? Won’t it be easy for Arroyo to declare a state of emergency to solve the emergency of threatened automation? Same logic: The disease is the cure.

Two are Norberto Gonzales and Delfin Bangit, the defense secretary and new AFP chief of staff. Gonzales dismisses the talk of a plot by him and other Arroyo loyalists to rig the elections in this wise: “I have been receiving this message and you know it has been a long campaign in our society today to malign the [Armed Forces] that it will and did participate in some cheating in the elections.”

Read our lips, Mr. Defense Secretary, we are not maligning the AFP, we are maligning you. Why someone who tried to sell this country’s sovereignty down the drain—as Joker Arroyo showed when he was still not a joker, specifically after you were caught paying a fortune to an American lobby group to lobby the US Congress to lobby the Philippines into changing its Charter—ever became national security chief, not to speak of defense secretary, only Arroyo can say. Same logic: The disease is the cure.

Bangit says he has not gotten an illegal order from Arroyo nor will he obey an illegal order from Arroyo. That does not assure us about his resolve to resist an illegal order, that worries us about his capacity to recognize an illegal order. The AFP has been slaughtering hundreds of political activists over the last few years, and he and Jovito Palparan and Gonzales see nothing illegal about it. He has been serving someone who plotted with Garci to win by one million votes over her nearest rival, and who imprisoned Brig. Gen. Francisco Gudani and Col. Alexander Balutan for trying to expose the AFP’s part in the cheating that Gonzales says did not happen, and he finds nothing illegal about it. Arroyo orders martial law to keep the elections free and clean and he will see only the inflexible logic that the disease has every right to be the cure.

Three, two months before the first automated elections in the country, an undertaking of such magnitude it ought to have been prepared for for years, many of the tested machines have been malfunctioning; the problem of distributing the right forms to the right precincts remains daunting; there has been little voter education in the use of the machines; the watchers will have nothing to watch as everything will happen inside the machines whose yields will be taken on faith; the automation will coexist with manual counting; and now they have to contend with blackouts too.

The Comelec will be in charge of everything. The same Comelec that harbored Virgilio Garcillano and Benjamin Abalos, the same Comelec that has ousted Ed Panlilio and Grace Padaca and has been trying to oust Jesse Robredo after they were voted into office (all three of whom quite incidentally are Ramon Magsaysay Awardees for governance), the same Comelec that in Arroyo’s time as in Marcos’ has yet to show 1 plus 1 does not equal 11. The logic is the same: The disease is the cure.

Four is People Power being nowhere to be found. Early this year, the SWS reported that if there is cheating in the elections, the people are bound to vehemently protest it. That is all very well except for two things. First is: How will people know cheating has happened? Noynoy Aquino’s gap over Manny Villar has narrowed down, that gap no longer defined by the rate Aquino goes up but by the rate Villar comes down. That gap doesn’t widen, we might very well have another 2004 scenario. Until the “Hello, Garci” tape surfaced, Arroyo almost had the country believing she won the elections.

Second, and more worrisome, Edsa has not become the theme of the Aquino campaign, the voluntaristic spirit that arose with it has not been unleashed, and no demonstrations of People Power accompanied the Edsa celebration (or lack of it) in January and February. Cheating happens, what will be there to oppose it? Where will the throng that will gather in the streets to protest it come from? As far as I know, People Power is not a genie you summon by rubbing the magic lamp, it is something you keep in readiness only by the repeated exercise of it. As far as I know, People Power is not a power that materializes like divine intervention in times of need, it is a power that is gained like earthly confidence by the constant strengthening of it. You do not harness that power now, you will not harness it later on.

Five, we have the surest sign of all we won’t see a smooth transition to a new government:

GMA swears by everything she holds sacred that we will.

Editorial: Blank check
Philippine Daily Inquirer

PLACING the entire island of Mindanao under a “state of calamity” allows affected towns, cities and provinces suffering from a severe power shortage to use as much as five percent of their respective budgets to fund emergency measures. This [...]]]> Tweet

Editorial: Blank check
Philippine Daily Inquirer

PLACING the entire island of Mindanao under a “state of calamity” allows affected towns, cities and provinces suffering from a severe power shortage to use as much as five percent of their respective budgets to fund emergency measures. This provision, however, amounts to a virtual blank check that unscrupulous politicians can use, not only to help bankroll their own election campaigns, but also to underwrite election fraud.

The deputy presidential spokesman, Gary Olivar, gave the official rationale: “The importation of gensets, maybe even power barges, which have much higher mega-wattage, will require calamity funds that will be mobilized by the declaration of a state of calamity.” There is no quarrel here. The Arroyo administration has failed to prepare for the onset of the (cyclical) El Niño weather pattern, despite being long forecast, and as a result, millions of Filipinos have had to endure rotating power outages that run for hours; the need for quick fixes is dire.

It is a usually hands-on administration’s unusual lack of control on the use of the five-percent provision that is worrying. All together, the total amount must run into at least a few billion pesos. (In 2009, the share of Mindanao’s local government units or LGUs in the Internal Revenue Allotment or IRA amounted to a total of P68.9 billion. Since some LGUs have other sources of income, the figure of roughly P3.5 billion, about five percent of the total share of IRA, represents the minimum amount involved.)

An administration ally, Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Constantino Jaraula, noted that “although there is a chance for abuse” of the authorization to release five percent of respective budgets, people should “assume good faith” in President Macapagal-Arroyo. But that would be like turning the clock to before July 2005 and the Hello Garci scandal. The public’s ready assumption of bad faith on the part of the President is one serious consequence of her persistent crisis of legitimacy.

In other words, President Arroyo has not succeeded in rebutting the firm belief of the majority of the people that she cheated in the 2004 elections; that she used government resources, such as the fertilizer fund administered by Joc-Joc Bolante, to buy political support; that she utilized soldiers of the military to help manipulate the vote in Mindanao.

It doesn’t help Malacañang any when a politically tone-deaf Ricardo Saludo, now the President’s chief spokesman, called the warnings raised by rival presidential candidates about a possible diversion of the five-percent funds a mere “campaign stunt to land on newspapers’ front pages.”

Is accountability in the use of government money now no longer important enough to the Arroyo administration that raising concerns about it is derided as mere election campaigning? The last time we checked, accountability is the principal responsibility elected and appointive officials owe the citizens of a republic.

Subsequently, Saludo fine-tuned his approach. First, he said, the Mindanao LGUs’ spending “will be subject to COA audit.” Then, in a radio interview, he said that the spending would be monitored by non-government organizations and the churches. “We have civil society and private sector observers,” he said.

Nothing wrong with either measure—except that, at best, they can only confirm wrongdoing after the dirty deed is done. In a political system that virtually leaves election cheats unpunished, this will have the effect of encouraging the use of part of the newly available money for election-related purposes.

Jesus Dureza, chief of the new Mindanao Development Authority, offered an argument from consequence: “The Mindanaoans are suffering and will never forgive anyone who would fool around with the calamity fund at a time of crisis like this.” That is likely true, but fooling around depends to a great extent on when the foolishness can come to light. If the dirty deed is done, it may be too late.

Besides, no one is seriously suggesting that all of the five-percent funds, some P3.5 billion at a minimum, will go to the pockets of the politicians or to election-related spending. We will see generator sets being purchased, power barges being leased, alleviation programs for hard-hit farmers being launched. But then election operators won’t need all of that newly vulnerable money; just a few millions here, more millions there—and the dirty deed of defrauding the electorate is done.

Presidential aspirants warn vs use of disaster funds in Mindanao for polls
GMANews.TV

Following the declaration of a state of calamity over Mindanao due to the power shortage there, two presidential aspirants on Friday warned against the possible use of disaster funds for election purposes.