What value added is there in systems losses?
Condolences to the Garcia family on the passing to eternal life of Mama Ever Garcia, widow of the late Atty. Jesus Garcia, the matriarch of SunStar Daily who succumbed to cancer yesterday. She was my mother’s contemporary in many civic clubs in
Also condolences to the family of the late Lilia Celis Hermosisima, widow of the late Dr. Gaudencio Hermosisima who died last May 12. Her remains lie in state also in Cosmo Nivel. She will be cremated after the mass at
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Yesterday I was deluged by this forwarded text messages which goes; “Info from US Geo Society based in
Of course I texted back all those friends who forwarded me this text message that it was definitely a hoax or a prank.
The science of earthquake prediction hasn’t yet been perfected to the point that scientists can give us the exact date or the hour. So far, only animals have that uncanny ability to predict earthquakes just before they happen. Perhaps the best proof is when you read this column this morning and you’re safe and sound. No doubt the pranksters got away with a huge laugh because too many of our people are either ignorant or gullible and immediately react to such scare tactics. Let me remind you of Aesop’s fables “The Boy Who Cried Wolf!” Someday, when earthquakes can be predicted with certainty, no one will believe text messages anymore. So better watch it!
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The Senate investigation on the question of the power rates by the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) especially on its systems losses that is being passed on to their consumers has now spilled into the issue of who really owns Meralco. Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile insists that Meralco is owned by the Philippine government owing to the fact that during the Marcos Regime, the Lopez family had to borrow money to keep Meralco going, hence it loaned a huge sum of money to the Government Service and Insurance System (GSIS) that now controls a large chunk of Meralco shares. But another Senator, Sen. Joker Arroyo insists that after the EDSA Revolt, Pres. Corazon C. Aquino ordered the return of Meralco to the Lopez family.
So if Meralco is really owned by the government, then the Lopezes have no right to run that company, monopoly and all. But if it truly is owned by the Lopezes, then the government has no reason to try and grab this power company. Hence it is but right for government to resolve the ownership issue once and for all. I’m sure it is not that difficult to count all those shares in Meralco or is something just trying to make things difficult?
Meralco passing its systems losses to consumers is an age-old practice. So that’s not really big news. What is news to me is that consumers are also paying Expanded Value Added Taxes (EVAT) on those systems losses. Now this is something new and abhorrent because there really is no value added in those systems losses. So why should the government earn any revenue or “profit” from this loss? This is truly an eye-opener. The big question is whether the Energy Regulatory Board (ERB) approved this.
Allow me to reiterate my call to the Senate and Congress for the enactment of Anti-Trust Laws. Right now we only have the Oil Deregulation Law, which deregulated the Oil Industry. In the
If our legislators believe that Meralco has not been professional in dealing with its customers, then they should enact laws to curtail this company. One such law I had in mind is to stop the Lopez family from owing a media outlet, which allows them to shift public opinion to their side. This should be a good law to enact so that companies that run monopolies can truly be transparent in their dealings with their stakeholders. Here we are, demanding government to stop corruption, yet there are big privately owned companies that are also not transparent to its customers or the people.
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