An emergency that's over nine years old

The nerve of this government trying to seek emergency powers supposedly to fix the power shortage in Mindanao! The power problem of Mindanao had been there on day one of Ate Glue’s reign. In fact, it’s been there for the longest time. Governments past and present could have done something about it but didn’t. Now the energy secretary is even blaming God!

The most basic rule that competent energy planners live by calls for a diversity of power sources. A power grid must not be over dependent on just one or even two power sources. When I was working for the late Energy Secretary Ronnie Velasco, our energy planners led by Gary Makasiar noted the over dependence of Mindanao on the Agus hydro power system. This is why I remember that we planned for a number of coal power plants even as we explored for geothermal in Mt. Apo.

I don’t know what happened afterwards but it is clear that nothing much had been done to address Mindanao’s dependence on hydro. In good times, Mindanao had the advantage of cheap hydro power. But in times of drought, of which we had quite a few between 1986 to the present, this dependence on hydro becomes a crisis. Various administrations responded to the situation by docking some power barges burning expensive bunker or diesel just so blackouts are minimized.

The thing is… it is pretty obvious more permanent and economically viable solutions are called for. Not only is Mindanao’s power supply vulnerable to droughts, it is also vulnerable to terrorist groups that love to bomb transmission towers. It was clear that Mindanao needed power plants using coal and geothermal and located nearer population centers like Davao and Zamboanga. Or they could have interconnected Mindanao through submarine cable to Leyte to benefit from the geothermal there.

Unfortunately, they allowed the untenable situation to fester. Now they have the temerity to ask for emergency powers to fix a situation they couldn’t fix for the past nine years. All that the emergency powers could do is sign up overpriced power barges to provide the power in the meantime. While I will concede we don’t a choice now, I can’t help but thinking that incompetence of our energy planners will now reward officials who are likely to benefit from contracts exempted from the usual transparent procedures and audits because these are executed under emergency powers.

It is the same thing in the Visayas. The power supply problem in Cebu has never been a big secret. Yet it seems the administration didn’t believe its own rosy forecasts of economic growth. Otherwise, they would have done something to address the power situation in fast growing areas like Cebu.

It takes at least five years for a power plant project to start delivering power from the word go. There is absolutely nothing they can do between now and the end of Ate Glue’s term to address the consequences of incompetent planning except to sign up expensive power barges under unaudited emergency rules.

Incompetence and a mind for chicanery certainly pay handsome dividends for our officials. The rest of us can only suffer.

Air fare lottery

Buying a domestic airline ticket these days is pretty much like playing a game of chance. If you are lucky, your ticket would be a steal. But that seems to be more the exception than the rule, even with so-called low cost carriers. In fact, I have found it easier to get a lower fare by buying from a legacy carrier like Philippine Airlines.

My experience over the past two months had been very educational. Fleeing the blizzards of Washington DC, my eldest sister and brother-in- law came in for a month’s visit and they asked me to take care of their travel requirements within the country. They ended up visiting Laoag, Legaspi and Cebu. What they paid in plane tickets is a bit surprising.

Their PAL ticket to Cebu cost P1,626 each. They were incredulous that it was just $36 for a flying time of one hour or approximately like San Francisco to Los Angeles. But even if I booked their tickets to Laoag and Legaspi via Cebu Pacific at the same time I booked for Cebu via PAL, the cost was about double. Their flight to Laoag cost P3,371 each and the one to Legaspi was P2,533 each. Yet, Laoag was approximately the same distance from Manila as is Cebu. And Legaspi is even closer. I had to book on Cebu Pacific because the PAL flights were full.

Last week, I was with a group of about 30 people who travelled to Cebu. While we bought our tickets at about the same time, we ended up paying different fares. The larger group booked on Cebu Pacific thinking that it was cheaper particularly if they took an early morning flight. When we compared notes, it wasn’t what we expected.

Those who took Cebu Pacific paid P3,305 round trip, no group discount. Those who took PAL paid between P2,841 and P4,495, booking individually. The thing is, those who took PAL didn’t have to leave at the crack of dawn and had the benefit of a wide body Airbus 340 with more comfortable seats.

I don’t know how to explain the disparity in prices except to say that this is the free market at work. The demand for tickets for any flight determines the price. If you are lucky and happen to be buying a ticket on-line at the exact time an airline has a promo going (which sometimes lasts less than an hour) then you get a steal. Otherwise, you could pay double or more.

The other lesson about Cebu Pacific I want to share with my readers is the experience of my son, who is based in Singapore. He bought a Cebu Pacific ticket costing a little over $200 which is more or less P10,000 for a roundtrip flight to Manila. But he did this some time in advance. A few days before departure date, he couldn’t leave Singapore because he wasn’t feeling too well. He called Cebu Pacific a day too late but before the flight date. He was told he forfeits his ticket and his entire payment.

I know all about the business model of Cebu Pacific and I don’t mind the total forfeiture policy if the ticket is really low priced. But a $200 roundtrip to Manila is no longer within the realm of cheap. You can scour page two and three of The Philippine Star on Mondays and find similar tickets being advertized for between $50 to $150. It would be better if Cebu Pacific just imposed a service charge but allow the passenger to rebook on a later flight.

I love the folks at Cebu Pacific, specially Candice, their marketing VP. They have revolutionized air travel in the country and woke up PAL to fight for market share. But we still have to internalize the rules of their business model, a constant source of misunderstanding and irritation.

I have readers complaining that they just missed the check in deadline by a few minutes and they have lost the entire value of their ticket on Cebu Pacific. They must be making a bundle on these forfeitures. I have discussed this with Cebu Pacific officials but their constant refrain is that it is their business model and the terms are in the fine print of all their tickets.

In fairness to Cebu Pacific, their tickets are often cheaper than bus fare to the Visayas. This is why even our house help will soon take her first airplane flight home to Tacloban because Cebu Pacific is cheaper than a bus.

But if you cannot predict the future and have little control over your time, buying what looks like a cheap ticket way in advance isn’t advisable. You are better off buying a little closer to the date of travel on a regular legacy airline than risk losing all on a low cost carrier.

So, it is still buyer beware. Before clicking a purchase, check the competitor first. Never assume that you can get the lowest priced ticket from an airline just because it calls itself a low cost or budget carrier. And it helps to be lucky because buying an airline ticket these days, here or abroad, is like playing lotto. I miss the travel agents already.

Proof needed

Atty Sonny Pulgar sent this one.

Q: Why is it that a girl looks down when you say I love you?

A: To see if you really mean it!

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected]. This and some past columns can also be viewed at www.boochanco.com <http://www.boochanco.com>