‘Senate not rushing resolution on Noy’s special powers’

MANILA, Philippines - There is no rush for the Senate to pass a joint resolution giving President Aquino emergency powers to address a looming power shortage as the national budget for next year is the priority, Sen. Sergio Osmeña III said yesterday.

Osmeña, chairman of the Senate committee on energy, said he has to put on hold the hearings on the proposed joint resolution, in compliance with a directive from Senate President Franklin Drilon that the senators focus on passing the national budget for 2015.

“There are instructions already from the Senate President’s office that there should be no hearings (on emergency powers) until the national budget is approved,” Osmeña said.

Osmeña expressed doubt that the Senate can decide on the proposed special powers by yearend.

“Maybe not, but I don’t know because we still have about two to three weeks in December,” he said.

He said granting special powers to the Chief Executive is a “complicated” process.

“We should discuss one by one the special powers that we would give the President. I think they will mostly have to do with appropriations and the use of the Malampaya Fund. So it might not be an amendment or exemption to the EPIRA but an exemption to the Malampaya Fund,” Osmeña said, referring to the Electric Power Industry Reform Act.

He noted that the Malampaya Fund was created through a presidential decree.

“I think it is called the Oil and Natural Gas law, and all the royalties from Malampaya go to this fund. And it is only supposed to be for energy development,” Osmeña pointed out.

“But anyway, we will strengthen it (law) and tell the President that the fund can be used to refund participants in the Interruptible Load Program,” he said.

House Joint Resolution no. 21 seeks to grant President Aquino emergency powers before the end of this year.

On the issue of value added tax exemption, Osmeña said the provision is just an add-on.

“What is important is that those who participate in the ILP are guaranteed that they will be paid because it is more expensive to use diesel plants. And I think the cost will be about P9 per kilowatt-hour,” he added.

Warning

Even before lawmakers can resume tackling the emergency powers joint resolution, former Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño is already warning his ex-colleagues of possible abuse by President Aquino of such powers.

He aired the warning on the eve of the meeting of the House energy committee, which is expected to endorse the grant of emergency or special powers to Aquino. Casiño is convenor of consumer group People Opposed to unWarranted Electricity Rates (POWER).

He said the special authority “will most likely be used to skirt government procurement laws for the benefit of favored players in the power industry.”

He said there are two “dangerous” provisions in the draft joint congressional resolution on Aquino’s emergency powers.

One of the “dangerous” provisions gives private owners of generating sets a “reasonable recovery” on top of reimbursements for their fuel expenses, while the other allows all government agencies to retrofit their electrical appliances and equipment through “emergency procurement procedures,” he said.

“We are afraid that the resolution’s mechanism for a ‘reasonable recovery’ will allow private entities to profit from the ILP, with the consumers ending up shouldering such an unjust burden,” he added.

ILP seeks to encourage private companies with generators to run their generating sets during peak demand periods between March and July next year.

Members of the House energy committee earlier said the plan was to reimburse ILP participants for the cost difference between getting their supply from the Luzon grid and running their own generators, plus a reasonable provision for wear and tear.

They said these participants could not be reimbursed the entire fuel cost for running their generators, since they are supposed to pay for the electricity drawn from the Luzon grid if they are not ILP participants.

On the provision allowing emergency procurement, Casiño said government agencies might use this to purchase thousands of light bulbs, air-conditioners, inverters and other supplies without going through regular bidding procedures.

This could result in irregularities like overpricing and short deliveries, or worse ghost deliveries, he said.  – With Jess Diaz, Rhodina Villanueva