DOE TASK FORCE

POWER industry leaders are giving the thumbs up to Government’s creation of a long-needed multisectoral task force to cobble a master plan to solve the nagging crisis by pulling down electricity rates in the long haul, but are flummoxed by the inclusion of a shady character and his inoperative consumer group in this top-caliber joint study group. They point to an erstwhile president of the Philippine Independent Power Producers Association (PIPPA) with a seemingly checkered past and who now heads an almost obscure pro-consumer group as the odd man out in this task force. The Department of Energy (DOE) has created a task force to "study ways to reduce the price of electricity in the country” under its Department Order No. 2014-05-0009 dated April 28 and signed by Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla. Petilla’s mandate for this task force is to "evaluate current breakdown/components of electricity and identify factors affecting them, conduct multisectoral public consultations nationwide to present their findings; identify ways and measures to help reduce the price of electricity and ensuring its efficiency.” His order is for each task force member to represent his or her sector and "ensure complete dissemination of all discussions and agreements during the conduct of dialogues.” Funding support for this joint study will come from the Office of the DOE Secretary, while technical support will be rendered by the Office of the Directors of the Energy Policy and Planning Bureau (EPPB) and Electric Power Industry Management Bureau (EPMB), according to the April 28 department order. The creation of this task force, bared this DOE order, was an offshoot of the May 31, 2013 dialogue at the Heroes Hall in Malacañang in which "labor groups proposed for the creation of a dedicated group, which will include the labor sector and consumers groups representatives, to monitor, discuss and resolve issues affecting the power supply and affordability of electricity in the country.” The same order recalled that this proposal for a more detailed study focused on power supply and pricing was reiterated during the Focus Group Discussions (FGD) and Consultative Dialogue that the DOE initiated during the February-March 2014 period on the review of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA). *** In light of the grand, if not herculean, tasks of this joint study group, one is perplexed as to what somebody like David Relito Tan is doing in this A-1 task force after getting embroiled with his companies in a string of legal battles here and abroad—and now recycling himself as a self-styled industry "expert” at the height of last semester’s power crisis. Tan managed to do a personal makeover as an "expert” by coming out in the media with supposed think pieces inappropriately blaming certain industry players for the electricity mess, on the basis of his obviously biased and intentionally distorted facts about the Philippine power situation. The inclusion of Tan—described in his newspaper articles as a certified public accountant, founding director-former president of PIPPA, and "volunteer strategy adviser” to several legislators during the congressional deliberations on the EPIRA—has somewhat cast suspicions on the task force’s true agenda. *** As shown by an organizational chart, this multisectoral task force will be headed by Dr. Adoracion Navarro, a senior fellow at the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) specializing in evidence-based research studies on practical economic planning and policymaking information. She is on Devex’s 2013 list of "40 Under 40” awardees or the 40 global development leaders in Metro Manila who are under 40 years of age, and will be represented in the task force by PIDS president Gilberto Llanto. The same organizational chart shows that this task force will be made up of over 30 representatives from Government, academe, the business sectors and labor and consumer groups. Task force members include Secretary Petilla and businessman Raul Concepcion of Gov’tWatch; plus representatives from the Joint Foreign Chambers (JFC), Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), Federation of Filipino Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FFCCCI), PIPPA, Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), National Consumers Affairs Council (NCAC), National Federation of Women’s Club of the Philippines (NFWCP), Coalition for Consumer Protection and Welfare Inc. (CCPW), Matuwid na Singil sa Kuryente Consumer Alliance Inc. (MSKCA), Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) and NAGKAISA (United).//