Freedom from Debt Coalition welcomes Petilla appointment

MANILA, Philippines - The Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) welcomed yesterday the appointment of Leyte Gov. Jericho Petilla as secretary of the Department of Energy (DOE).

FDC power campaign coordinator Primo Morillo, however, challenged Petilla to “change the neo-liberal policies of his predecessor.”

Morillo said due to “our obvious framework differences” with the previous DOE secretary, any change of guard in the department is welcome.

“But, we dare Petilla to swim against the tide, to be honest enough to declare EPIRA (Electric Power Industry Reform Act) as a failure, and to accept the fact that the energy sector needs a new pro-people framework,” he said.

“It is also good to know that Petilla does not have the burden of being a former top executive of a major player in the power industry,” he added.

The FDC official said Petilla’s predecessor Rene Almendras was a former treasurer of the power industry giant Aboitiz & Company.

He said during the height of the Mindanao power crisis, several quarters had raised the possibility that Almendras was favoring his former bosses.

“Being a local elected official, Petilla must know the importance of consulting the people, directly or through their organizations. We surmise that his views are more grounded than someone who just bases his decisions on the papers he reads inside his air-conditioned office,” Morillo said.

“Besides, one of the plans of the Energy department is to privatize the Unified Leyte Geothermal Power Plant (ULGPP). Petilla should know that this plan will not help the people in the Visayas but will instead further increase electricity rates primarily in his home region, Eastern Visayas,” he said.

FDC also announced that they are organizing a Visayas-wide Electricity Consumer Conference and is planning to invite the new DOE head.

The event, slated in early November, will plan a broad, multi-sectoral campaign against the national government’s intention to privatize the contract of ULGPP.