Manila Energy Forum slated

With the national budget still pending and the congressional elections fast approaching, the electricity industry reform bills, pending in both houses of Congress, is once again in danger of being relegated to the back burner with the chances of its being passed becoming even bleaker.

Meanwhile, the crippling electricity rates and inefficient service continue to hound industrial as well as household consumers.

In this regard, the Washington SyCip Policy Center of the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) will be sponsoring the Manila Energy Forum to be held on Feb. 7, 2000 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the SGV Hall, AIM Conference Center, Makati. The forum will provide a venue to spur interest and, hopefully, action on this very important piece of legislature which has an all encompassing effect on the socio-political and economic lives of all Filipinos.

The policy center noted that investors who have been monitoring the bills for years are losing their belief in the National Government's ability to legislate reforms and are now training their sights on other emerging markets for investments.

Also, multilateral funding for expansion and maintenance of the cash-strapped state-firm, National Power Corp., is being withheld, together with other government loans, pending the passage of the electricity reform bill.

"A virtual halt to investments in the energy sector may very well result in another power crisis by 2004," the center warned.

Senators John Osmena, chairman of the Senate committee on energy and Juan Ponce Enrile, chairman of the Senate committee on government corporations, Congressman Arnulfo Fuentebella, chairman of the House committee on energy, were invited to speak on the state of the industry as well as the status of the bill. Napocor president Federico Puno is also expected to touch on the pending legislation and how it will affect the state-power firm.

Industry leaders and experts, and a cross-section of interest groups are also expected to attend the Manila Energy Forum which will hopefully address the murky issues on cross-ownership, stranded cost, regulation, universal levies, and government bail-out.

Among the invited guest reactors are: Federico Lopez of First Private Holdings Corp.; Raul Concepcion of Concepcion Industries; former Energy Regulatory Board chairman Neptali Franco; Dave Suanson, a foreign investor and industry analyst Neel Sinka.