'Power punch' from Pacquiao

LAS VEGAS – Holder of world boxing championship belts in eight different weight divisions, Filipino prizefighter Manny Pacquiao has become a local hero of sorts in this gambling capital of the United States. It was here where Pacquiao scored his latest ring victory last May 7 when he beat American boxer “Sugar” Shane Mosley in their match for the World Boxing Organization welterweight title at MGM Hotel’s Grand Garden.

This was Pacquiao’s second victory as incumbent Sarangani congressman, but his 14th consecutive victory that has enriched him several millions of dollars more from his main profession and career as a boxer.

Tourism keeps the local business up and about while the American economic slowdown remains palpable in the casino operations here. That’s why Pacquiao’s latest prizefight was a most welcome event that brought business here back to life because of his loyal international followers and fans who flock to watch his boxing match wherever it is held.

So we were not surprised at all that Pacquiao has become a household name here, from taxicab drivers at the airport all the way to the hotels and other places. And mind you, they are not just Filipinos living and working here. The Puerto Rican driver of the cab we took at the airport is a self-confessed big fan of Pacquiao and told us that the Pinoy champ, for him, is “the greatest pound-for-pound boxer” now in the world.

Apparently updated on everything about Pacquiao, he gushed at reports that our “congressman boxer” might even become the next president of the Philippines. Our street-smart driver seemed to be politically aware that Pacquiao could easily win the next presidential race in the Philippines in 2016. With so much prize pots Pacquiao has earned through these years as a boxer, he said, he has more than enough for his election war chest.

Well, we told him, the presidency is a totally different case. Pacquiao has already learned in the past that his popularity as a gentleman-boxer was not enough to make him win. He ran but lost in his first attempt to join Congress in May 2007 in his own hometown of General Santos City.

Pacquiao finally got to join Congress in last year’s elections when he ran in nearby Sarangani where he invested some of his winnings to build a residence to qualify him to run in that province.

From several presidential trips in the US while still covering the Palace beat, this was my first time to visit here. It was like a culture shock for me to see so many slot machines right at the airport and even along the streets. This is actually the last leg of the renewable energy study trip that first took us to Fort Collins, Colorado.

Here, we were taken to a power plant tour at the Hoover Dam that is located at the border of the states of Nevada and Arizona. According to the briefing papers distributed to us, the Hoover Dam alone generates more than four billion kilowatt-hours (kwh) a year of low-cost hydroelectric power that serves 1.3 million people in Nevada, Arizona and California.

Our tour guide impressed upon us the engineering marvel applied in the construction of Hoover Dam could make it withstand an earthquake of up to magnitude 8.6. Japan recently suffered a magnitude 9 quake that triggered a massive destructive tsunami.

The Hoover Dam reminds me of our own Pantabangan-Masiway Dam in Nueva Ecija which is our country’s biggest water reservoir at three billion cubic meters. Recently, we heard its installed capacity has been increased to 132 megawatts (MW). It originally had a generating capacity of only 112 MW when it was privatized and sold by the government-owned National Power Corp. (Napocor).

The Lopez-owned First Gen Corp. bid and won to acquire and run this hydroelectric complex. It is one of the many Napocor-owned power plant assets that were lined up for privatization as mandated, among other things, by the Congress-approved Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) of 2001.

Thanks to EPIRA! It apparently worked for this privatization because its capacity was increased by 20 MW in two years’ time. Just like Hoover Dam, the Pantabangan Dam is not just a main source of electricity that goes all the way to Metro Manila but is also the major source of irrigation of farmlands in Nueva Ecija and nearby provinces in Central Luzon, known as our country’s “rice bowl.”

The Americans have to cut across canyons in rocky mountains in order to build the Hoover Dam within five years starting in 1935. Six companies combined their resources to build the dam at a total cost of $48 million. It now controls the water flow for irrigation, checks floodwaters coming from the mighty Colorado River, and delivers clean and reliable power in this part of the US.

The Philippines, with its rich water resources, could rely on such an abundant renewable energy like that coming from the Pantabangan Dam. All that is needed are financial resources to build upon such renewable energy sources that come in abundance.

Considering the huge capital outlay needed, the government carries much of the burden to undertake power plant projects. The 15th Congress is currently in the process of reviewing EPIRA 10 years after it was passed into law.

Senator TG Guingona last week sponsored Senate Bill 2846 which seeks to extend the lifeline rate privilege that will expire on June 26. The same bill has been certified urgent by President Aquino and approved on third reading by the Senate. Now that both chambers of Congress adjourned sine die their first regular sessions, the bicameral conference committee that will reconcile the Senate and House versions of the bill, will convene in late July yet at the earliest.

But the proposed bills being considered only seek to amend populist provisions of the law like this lifeline rate privilege that is just another term for subsidy actually passed on to us taxpayers. Instead of looking at the bigger picture, our lawmakers have a myopic vision for the country, focusing on their re-election bids rather than providing for the greater national interest.

For the meantime, our lawmakers will spend almost two months of vacation while sessions are in recess. I could only wish that Congressman Pacquiao would use his much vaunted “power punch” to knock some sense into his colleagues in the 15th Congress.