An earnest Mercado delivered these major points during the few times that he spoke in that unusual presscon-cum-prayer rally marked by Almeda followers’ waving their hands and ejaculating hallelujahs:
• We’re not comfortable counting the pesos and centavos spent in the campaign to recover the hostages. We will sit down to count the financial cost after we have attended to our primary concern, the hostages’ safety.
• Prayer once again proved its power and efficacy. Let’s continue praying. And please also pray for our soldiers fighting for all of us under harsh conditions in the jungles of Sulu.
• Let’s not get bogged down in recrimination and raking up our blunders. We all make mistakes. Let’s just wipe the slate clean, look forward, make a firm resolve, and move on to solve the problem.
Don’t let the name fool you. He is not a Filipino executive hired by Texaco-Chevron in a public relations gesture towards the natives. He is an American of Italian descent, moved here from New Zealand two months ago into the eye of the OilEx storm.
The conversation naturally kept coming back to the OilEx bill being pushed in the House by Bataan Rep. Enrique T. Garcia.
Or worse, we thought aloud for Florio to hear it, we were beginning to suspect that Caltex was resigned to a possible capitulation in the face of a mounting public protest against continually rising fuel prices.
Caltex may not be as visible and audible, he said, but they have been quietly at work – like they have delivered their position paper to all lawmakers and have, in fact, entertained some congressmen who had expressed a desire for some kind of meeting where Caltex could give its, uh, side.
Why in the Senate, he asked, trying to catch my eyes.
It’s simpler, and much cheaper, to work things out in the Senate, we explained. Imagine lobbying in a House with some 220 members, 190 of whom have signed the OilEx bill as co-sponsors! In contrast, the Senate has only 22 members. . . . (Sen. Marcelino Fernan has passed away, and Sen. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has moved on to become Vice President.)
The OilEx bill, or any measure for that matter, could be ambushed anywhere along the long, tortuous legislative trail. The Senate is the best spot for it.
But we’re not out to "kill" the bill, Florio protested. Since he was still smiling when he said that, we didn’t find it necessary to comment.
If a No vote against the OilEx would be a political liability, obviously the remedy is to prevent a vote. Some congressmen, or even the House leadership, could just freeze the ball so no voting ever happens until bell time. They don’t even have to explain the demise of the measure.
Same thing in the Senate. The bill can – and we predict it will – freeze to death in the cold storage committee where it has been tossed for, uh, study.
Since there would be no vote taken on a dead or dying bill, nobody could pin any lawmaker to any unpopular anti-OilEx vote. Neat!
Now if congressmen care for the Big Boys in the Senate, they should just continue dribbling till adjournment so the ball does not reach the Senate side of the court.
This will also save President Estrada – whose heart displayed on his wristband keeps bleeding for the poor – who has quietly assured congressman Garcia, his partymate, and other lawmakers that if the OilEx bill is passed he would sign it into law.
Estrada can keep whispering this to all pro-OilEx congressmen and senators who seem gullible enough, because Erap knows something they do not know – that the OilEx bill will never pass because he won’t allow it.
• The OilEx will not lower prices as the industry already purchases crude and oil products in the open market at prevailing prices. The OilEx can do no better. In fact, it might just end up with prices that are at least 65 centavos higher per liter due to its inefficiencies.
• The OilEx is a reversal of present economic policy, because it creates a government monopoly rather than support free market competition.
• Importation of refined oil products versus crude oil drains foreign exchange and adds pressure to the devalued peso. The OilEx will make the economy dependent on oil imports leading to fuel security risks.
• There have been similar centralized procurement agencies put up by other countries, such as Zimbabwe and Zambia, but they have failed.
Of course congressman Garcia by his lonesome has answered or belied all these objections, but we’re repeating them for the record.
"Mercedez Benz and BMW have already manufactured hydrogen-powered cars similar to engineer Dingel’s invention" Paco told us. "Did Dingel sell his patent to the foreign car manufacturers?" (We doubt it. We think he had nothing to sell. – fdp)
He forwarded news that BMW had launched the world’s first production-based hydrogen car in Berlin, the BMW 750hL. The luxurious sedans are built on the same production line in Dingolfing.
BMW offers to work with international energy companies for the development of a hydrogen fuel station network. The aim is to have a sufficient network of hydrogen fuel stations all over Europe by 2010. By then, BMW has projected to sell several thousand hydrogen cars. The prices for the cars and for the fuel are to be similar to those of conventional cars and fuels.
The hydrogen technology used in the 12-cylinder sedans has so advanced that it permits realistic planning for large-scale production, according to the news from BMW.
The car is also fitted for conventional fuel supply, since the availability of hydrogen fuel is limited at the moment. When hydrogen fuel runs out, the driver can shift to conventional fuel.
The engine itself differs mainly only with regard to the intake duct with additional injection valves for the hydrogen. The engines were integrated into production in Dingolfing and assembled together with the conventional spark-ignition and diesel engines.
Another prerequisite for the introduction of hydrogen as fuel is a filling system that must be no more complicated than filling a car today. The low temperature of minus 250 degrees Celsius requires special refueling technology.
In cooperation with its project partners, BMW has developed a fueling system that can fill vehicles with hydrogen as quickly, loss-free and safely as with conventional fuels.
This technology is now being used by the world’s first public robotic fuel station for liquid hydrogen at the Munich airport. The fully automatic hydrogen fueling operation takes less than three minutes and is a simple process for the layman, according to BMW.