Senate, voting 13-1, ratifies power bill

The Senate ratified last night the bicameral conference committee report on the Omnibus Power Sector Reform bill, ending one of the most highly debated measures ever sent to the outgoing 11th Congress.

The vote for the measure was 13-1, with one abstention. Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile cast the lone dissenting vote, while Sen. Vicente Sotto III abstained.

As indicative of the strong support given by the administration to the measure, even recuperating Sen. Robert Barbers attended the session, his very first since undergoing a critical operation for throat cancer.

Sen. John Osmeña, chairman of the Senate committee on energy and of the Senate panel to the bicameral committee, lauded the strong support given by President Arroyo to passage of the measure, making it easier for the controversial bill to be approved by the chamber.

He pointed out that Congress had already spend almost six years to the consideration of the bill and that its passage makes the Philippines one of the first countries in the region to follow international standards on power restructuring.

Osmeña said Congress could not wait longer to pass the bill, as he rejected proposals to let the incoming 12th Congress to tackle it.

He argued that postponing the approval of the measure would increase the debts of the National Power Corp. and put the country nearer to a power crisis.

Before the start of the debate on the bicameral report, Osmeña apologized to Enrile for last week’s misunderstanding where Enrile was not properly informed of the bicameral meeting that approved the report.

Osmeña also explained that what happened was that the House panel unanimously approved the Senate version, making it unnecessary to reconcile the House and the Senate versions of the bill. He also cited a Supreme Court decision saying it is not necessary to provide a detailed description of the amendments in a bicameral report when an entirely new version was considered by the bicameral panel.

Enrile, in what is perhaps his valedictory address before the 11th Congress, stood pat against the bill.

Now in 14th place in the official canvassing of votes for the senatorial elections, he virtually conceded his loss but stressed that he remains opposed to the measure so that future legislators could be properly guided by his observations.

He said the measure contained serious flaws and onerous provisions whose impact will be shouldered by the Filipino people.

Tatad said the end results of the measure may not be as perfect as they wanted it to be, but it is not as imperfect as critics picture it to be. He cited the critical role of Enrile to the fleshing out of a better version of the bill "that we are proud to support."

"Senator Enrile has more a vigorous contribution to the improvement of this bill by criticizing it, than many of us who are voting for its approval," Tatad said, as he asked the Senate to give the proper recognition to Enrile.

Sotto abstained, saying that while he supported the objectives of the measure and that even former President Estrada was for its approval, he had some misgivings because of the warnings issued by critics against its dire consequences.