Shady intentions

Many welcomed the news that three major conglomerates, who are erstwhile bitter rivals, had put aside their differences to help solve the country’s energy problems.

There are few though who just had to find fault in the recent landmark agreement between Meralco PowerGen Corp., Aboitiz Power Corp. and SMC Global Power Holdings Corp. for the country’s first and most expansive integrated liquified natural gas (LNG) facility in Batangas.

MGen and AP will jointly invest in two of SMGP’s gas-fired power plants – the 1,278-megawatt Ilijan power plant and a new 1,320-MW combined cycle power facility which is expected to start operations by the end of 2024.

The three companies will also acquire the LNG import and regasification terminal of Linseed which will be used to receive, store and process LNG fuel for the two power plants, thus fully integrating the local energy sector into the global natural gas supply chain.

The collaboration will substantially augment the country’s power supply with over 2,500 MW of generation capacity once fully operational.

SMGP chairman and president Ramon Ang noted that for the first time, three leading power companies are working together to secure the country’s energy needs while transitioning toward cleaner power sources.

Indeed a cause for celebration.

However, self-proclaimed consumer advocates P4P and CEED claimed there was something insidious about the three-way partnership to boost the Ilijan natural gas plant as the first integrated natgas facility in the country.

The group alleged that Meralco virtually gave away 80 percent of its power contracts to the Ilijan plant, while it was negotiating to buy into the facility.

This despite the fact that the Ilijan facility submitted the best bid according to Meralco’s provided criteria.

What this self-proclaimed consumer group refuses to recognize is the fact that the Malampaya gas field, which supplies up to 3,200 MW of Luzon’s power supply, is about to be depleted, thus a looming power shortage. And with Malampaya out, this agreement can get the country out of this scary situation.

Making this more urgent is the depletion of the Malampaya gas field, which supplies up to 3,200 MW of Luzon’s power supply.

With a power shortage looming on the horizon, the Marcos administration has asked the private sector to invest in more natural gas facilities and LNG terminals.

San Miguel itself has been a long-time target of CEED, as the latter tries to shame the company into dropping all of its traditional baseload power facilities, and force it and the entire industry to switch to 100 percent renewable power.

Renewables are intermittent, hence unreliable as baseload power. Imagine our whole economy bogging down every time we have cloudy skies.

It is actions like these by personalities with ulterior motives, oftentimes funded by unknown self-interest companies or organizations, that give real consumer and environment advocates a bad rep. Who made these groups our representatives as consumers? Or is this part of a plan to enter politics via the party-list mode?

Project gone wrong

Buyers of units in Ivory Wood, a seven-building project inside DMCI Homes’ Acacia Estates township project in Taguig will be given the option to either transfer to another condominium project or to get a full refund based on the current market value of their units plus damages, according to DMCI officials during a Senate hearing last January.

Senator Raffy Tulfo recently asked the Land Registration Authority to cancel the title to the property where Ivory Wood is situated. This was after the Supreme Court decided to grant the disputed property to workers of Liberty Transport Corp. owned by the Lacsinas who also own the property.

The case involved an area of 16,461 sqm in Taguig City which was the subject of a labor case filed with the NLRC by Bernadas et al against Liberty and the Lacsinas. The NLRC ruled in favor of Bernadas who won in the auction for the property.

Later, Bernadas executed a deed of sale ceding ownership to DMCI as well as a release and quitclaim discharging Lacsina and DMCI from all liabilities arising from the labor case.

However, Bernadas sought to nullify the sale on the ground that the deed of sale as well as the release and quitclaim were spurious and had been falsified. The SC ruled in favor of the Liberty workers.

According to the LRA, it is just waiting for the writ of execution before cancelling DMCI’s existing title.

Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development NCR director Norman Jacinto Doral told the Senate committee on labor, employment and human resources that the agency had earlier prevented the company from collecting payments from unit buyers.

Lately, there were parties questioning the Supreme Court’s ruling on the matter as well as its motives. All legal issues have to end at some point. It is unfair for the SC, as the final arbiter of legal battles, to be at the receiving end of demolition jobs just because some parties are not happy with how the matter was resolved.

DMCI Homes, for its part, said that everything is on “status quo and it is still pursuing all avenues to secure a fair and just outcome for all.” It also said it is fully prepared to hold Ivory Wood unit owners free from unfavorable repercussions of the issue.

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