What emergency, what power?
Emergency is defined as an event that is not predictable, not foreseen, beyond human control, almost synonymous to what lawyers call "fortuitous event" or "force majeure," which is usually referred to as "acts of God." All these terms therefore mean that there is no one to blame. But the projected power crisis in the summer of 2015 has been and is always predictable. It is not beyond human control. Thus, it does not qualify as a "fortuitous event," much less a "force majeure," nor by any stretch of imagination anything akin to an "act of God." It is an act or a major blunder of man.
And who is the man who made the blunder? It is the Secretary of Energy. We have been amply warned by Senator Serge Osmena that Jericho Petilla was an excellent Leyte governor but, with all due respect, technically incompetent to lead and manage a highly technical and intricate science and art of power generation, distribution and their multiple facets and ramifications. He is an honest man who was pushed to handle a very difficult job. He is a victim of political horse trading and political patronage. For his own sake, he should have the guts to tender his irrevocable resignation.
The appointment of Petilla to the Energy portfolio was a political decision just like the appointment of Abaya to the Transportation and Communication Department, the appointment of this magical guy called Alcala to the Agricultural Department, and, of course, the unfortunate assignment of Senator Mar Roxas to the DILG. Of course, all appointments are political decisions but they could at least screen their appointees. They are all, with due respect, square pegs in round holes. And they are the ones responsible for the fast declining approval rating of the President, as these cabinet men commit blunders and blunders everyday.
Again, without intending to insult the Chief Executive, whom we hold in high esteem and respect, we have to say this. He has to overhaul his Search Committee. President Ramos' and even President Estrada's appointees were of better caliber. Even the appointees of President Cory Aquino were better. But the best Cabinet team was that of President F Marcos, notwithstanding all the criticisms against him. Men like Carlos P Romulo, Cesar Virata, Blas F. Ople, Gerry Sicat, Jimmy Laya, O D Corpuz, Bong Tanco, and in Energy, Geronimo Velasco.
I know a little about Energy because I used to be HR director of the PNOC Energy Group of companies. I went to visit all our geothermal plants in Tongonan, Leyte, Palimpinon, Valencia, Negros Oriental, in Bacon, Sorsogon and Manito, Albay, as well as in Tiwi and in Mount Apo. I can see that the energy sector was very well managed during those years. When the President took over, he appointed Ting Paterno, who was a very good executive and manager. He allowed the technical guys like Mario Tiaoque and Pabling Malixi to run the department under the supervision of such technocrats as Tony del Rosario, Raul Paredes, and Ed del Ponso. Today, it is the politician trying to control the technocrats.
And they need emergency power to address the impending power emergency. That is, with due respect, no way to manage and lead the energy sector. What we need is a competent Secretary of Energy who will have really competent technical men of the highest caliber. The immediate solution to the energy crisis is the resignation of the Energy Secretary. Immediate and irrevocable. He is a very good and nice man, a lamb in a den of lions. He should be saved immediately. And the country should be saved from a real emergency arising from too many blunders. No ifs and no buts. Immediately.
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