Investors grilling an overkill

MANILA, Philippines – A day after the Senate grilled foreign businessmen over their opinions on the proposed Energy Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) amendments, two senators claimed their colleagues went overboard.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said the intense grilling of the officials of the Joint Foreign Chambers (JFC) who appeared before the Senate last Friday was “overkill” on the part of his colleagues.

Sen. Manuel Roxas II said the foreign investors had been denied the right to express their views over the issues affecting them.

“I think what happened was overkill. I would have treated the matter differently. But it would simply have been a matter of style. Every senator has his own way,” Pimentel said.

Roxas, for his part, noted the efforts of his colleagues in reminding the foreign businessmen that they are on Philippine soil and have no business in interfering in the internal affairs of the country.

However, Roxas said some senators also forgot that the foreign businessmen were invited to invest in the country, so their opinions on issues and government policies affecting them should also be heard.

Senators Juan Ponce-Enrile, Joker Arroyo and Miriam Defensor-Santiago, chairperson of the Senate committee on energy, took turns lambasting the JFC officials over a letter they sent to President Arroyo seeking to stop amendments to the EPIRA, claiming it was intervention into the country’s policies and governance.

Enrile went ballistic and even told the businessmen to get out of the country if they did not like the way things were being run here.

Roxas said the foreign businessmen simply clammed up after getting scolded by the veteran lawmakers.

“As investors, they also have the right to express their views on issues involving their businesses. They can do this through the DTI (Department of Trade and Industry), the President, congressmen and senators. That is okay with me,” Roxas said.

Pimentel, for his part, said the members of the Senate minority were still compiling the amendments they would file on the EPIRA as the proposals of Enrile, who is sponsoring the amendments, were not enough.

“But the bottom line is lower power costs by deleting systems losses and tightening up open access so that the power industry won’t fall into foreign hands completely,” Pimentel said.

Hubert D’Aboville, president of the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, reiterated the JFC position against the EPIRA amendments even if he was cut off several times by the senators, particularly Enrile.

“The JFC wish to reiterate their long-standing position that the provisions of Section 31 of RA (Republic Act No.) 9136 (or EPIRA) regarding retail competition and open access need to be implemented rather than amended,” the JFC said in the statement.

The group shared the position of the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) under its president Jose Ibazeta, which reiterated in the hearing that there was no need to amend EPIRA.

Ibazeta said the PSALM had so far reached 70 percent of its threshold and has scheduled for bidding the remaining independent power producers by November and generation companies by August.

“Instead of amending the provisions of EPIRA at this time, while PSALM is working steadily to meet the legal preconditions for open access – interested parties in the Congress, executive and private sector should continue to work to implement EPIRA and to dialogue regarding alternative strategies to achieve the policy objective of open access and retail competition,” JFC said.

The JFC noted that PSALM has made significant progress this year in selling the National Power Corp.’s generation companies, 43 percent of which were privatized in November 2007.

Santiago told the foreign businessmen in last Friday’s hearing that their move was way too late to be accommodated.