PNoy admin eyes Malampaya funds to cushion Meralco power rate hike

By KIMBERLY JANE TAN, GMA News

Published December 9, 2013 11:25am

(Updated 1:26 p.m.) President Benigno Aquino III on Monday said they are studying the possibility of using the Malampaya funds to cushion the impact of the impending power rate hike, the highest electricity rate increase on record to be implemented by Manila Electric Co.(Meralco).

Aquino asked Secretaries Jericho Petilla of Energey, Cesar Purusima of Finance, Butch Abad of Budget and Management, as well as Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa and the Department of Justice and the Chief Presidential Legal Counsel to review ways how the Malampaya funds can be used to "cushion the impact" of the power rate increase.

"I will expect all of these people that I assigned to study it, to give me proposals, hopefully before I leave for Japan that we can implement at the soonest possible time," he said at the anniversary celebration of the Department of Labor and Employment in Quezon City.

The President will be in Japan later this week to take part in the ASEAN-Japan Commemorative Summit.

Asked if the Malampaya funds will be used to subsidize the electric bill of consumers, he said it was still hard to commit to anything at this point.

"Public funds iyong Malampaya... pag masyadong diffused iyong pag-i-implement nito baka mahirapan tayo sa liquidation, etcetera. So that has to be studied – exactly how it can cushion... First, if it can, and how it will actually cushion. So I’m awaiting the proposals from the secretaries I mentioned," he said.

Opposition

But former government officials seemed not satisfied with the proposal.

At the sidelines of "Pork and Other Perks" forum, former Budget secretary Benjamin Diokno said the Supreme Court decision stated that the Malampaya fund can only be used in energy resource development projects.

Diokno said energy resource development projects are those that encourage energy companies to develop new energy sources.

"Itong gagawin niya, gaya ng ginawa ni GMA (former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo) na namigay ng subsidy ay energy using at hindi energy development," he said.

"Sa palagay ko illegal yun(g gagawin ni Aquino), not in accordance with SC decision," Diokno added.

For her part, former National Treasurer Ma. Leonor Briones said the Malampaya fund should be used in identifying new sources of energy.

"Kung gagamitin mo yun sa pamimigay ng pera, hindi para doon yun lalo na you have to replace, hindi naman hindi nauubos yung energy natin," she said.

House hearings

House Speaker Sonny Belmonte Jr., also on Monday, admitted that he personally felt the proposed hike would be a heavy burden for consumers, especially during the Christmas season.

“Frankly I do think it's a big increase. As a person I do. But there are processes. The Energy Regulatory Commission may be able to justify it at some point,” Belmonte said in a chance interview with reporters.

But when asked if a government subsidy to ease the burden of consumers should be implemented, Belmonte stopped short of supporting the idea

“Wala pa naman. Let's not anticipate it. As I said it’s still up to the ERC and really our Energy committee will find out what the basis for it is,” he said.

The investigation is in response to a resolution that Bayan Muna party-list Representative Carlos Isagani Zarate filed Friday to call for an investigation of Meralco’s rate increase.

“We hope that Meralco would defer the power rate increase as the probe is ongoing because as history would tell us, it is very difficult for them to refund consumers when they overcharge power rates,” Zarate said in a statement.

But Belmonte stressed the House investigation is meant to be in aid of legislation. "There are also one or two proposals regarding energy questions which could be part of discussions."

Power hike

Meralco last week announced that consumers may see electricity rates spike by as much as P2 to P3 kilowatt per hour (kWh) this month on account of a month-long maintenance shutdown of the Malampaya gas line and forced outage of other major power plants in Luzon. This prompted Aquino to make the statement on Monday.

Last Thursday, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) said Meralco may unilaterally implement the rate increase because the computations for higher electricity rates are based on a formula pre-approved by the regulator.

However, Malacañang still made an appeal to the utility to defer the electricity rate increase. —with a report from Patricia Denise Chiu/VS/RSJ/JDS, GMA News

Tags: powerrateincrease, powerratehike, energyregulatorycommission