Osmeña provisions in power bill damaging to small firms — group

A multisectoral group exposed yesterday what it claimed to be a "veiled attempt" to railroad the passage of the Omnibus Power Bill to kowtow to the interests of some influential sectors.

The Bantay Kuryente Laban sa Monopolyo alleged in a statement that Sen. John Osmeña, a close ally of deposed President Joseph Estrada and who chairs the Senate panel in the bicameral conference committee, was behind the attempt to "ram through the throats of committee members his own version of the bill."

Bantay Kuryente is a rural-based organization composed of students, lay leaders and the academe.

The group said the provisions Osmeña inserted in the bill’s Senate version were never deliberated upon in the Senate as a body nor were they provided for in the House version.

The group said Osmeña "badly wanted" his own version of the bill that he even threatened to block its passage if it does not contain his "pet provisions" contrary to the condition being imposed by foreign financial institutions before they could release multimillion-dollar loans to the cash-strapped administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Leo Kho, spokesman of Bantay Kuryente, said the provisions Osmeña was pushing to the hilt were contained in Sections 28 and 43 (U) "in the guise of demonopolizing the power-generating sector."

Kho said the Osmeña provisions would not only force small power-generating firms and cooperatives to sell out but would also legitimize the takeover of their business by the industry’s big players.

As Osmeña proposed, Section 28 of the bill provides that the ownership of a generation company or distribution utility and their holding companies shall not exceed 15 percent of the voting shares of stocks unless the company holding the shares or its controlling stockholders are already listed in the Philippine Stock Exchange.

Kho said that as of now, only Meralco (Manila Electric Co.) and probably one from Min-danao are listed in the PSE, making them automatically exempted from the provision.

According to Kho, Section 43 (U) of the Osmeña proposal is even more damaging to the small power-generating companies because that would mean their own demise.

The provision provides that power-generation companies or distribution utilities which are not publicly-listed in the PSE shall offer and sell to the public not less than 15 percent of their common shares of stocks.

This provision, Kho said, is not only unconstitutional but also arbitrary and unreasonable because, in the first place, it’s not easy for a small power firm to list itself in the PSE.

"On top of the requirements, it would also entail enormous costs," he added.

"If the members of the bicameral conference committee would allow this provision, it would just be a matter of time that these small power-generating firms would be forced to sell themselves to parties who have vested interests in the industry," he said.

Kho said that no less that Osmeña’s partymate, Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, has voiced his concerns and objections to some provisions in the bill in a published open letter to the President recently.