Imagine if we had an Oil Exchange - DEMAND AND SUPPLY

Despite Erap and the current state of the country, consider ourselves lucky. Imagine how a lot worse things would have been if we also had an Oil Exchange in place. Look at what's happening in California with their Power Exchange, the exact same thing that Tet Garcia had been showing as proof that his Oil Exchange idea works.

Well, it doesn't. Last week's Business Week points to the California Power Exchange as the probable cause of California's power crisis today. "To limit the potential for market control by a few large players," Business Week reports, "state legislators forced all power buyers and sellers to do business through the exchange, which focused on short-term purchases."

Other states, according to Business Week, allow utilities to enter into long-term contracts in order to reduce price volatility and support the construction of new generating plants. Tet's proposed Oil Exchange would have focused on short-term, spot market purchases of finished petroleum products too. The local refiners deal in longer term supplies of crude oil for local processing into finished products.

As we warned then, the OilEx would have left us vulnerable to the vultures otherwise known as spot market traders. The energy market is somewhat more complicated than the simplistic OilEx concept can handle. Buti na lang, President Estrada, a supposed ignoramus in economics, stood by the advice of Energy Secretary Mario Tiaoqui and opposed the OilEx proposal. This is also why Gloria, a PhD in economics who should know better, now looks like a plain political opportunist for backing the OilEx proposal simply because it was popular.

Now, if you are wondering why Gloria as an alternative to Erap seems to be a hard sell, this OilEx experience probably provides us an insight into the way she thinks and acts that is disturbing. Don't get me wrong. I still think Erap should resign because after all has been said, he can no longer govern effectively. The country will just go down the drain with him. A new leader, even Gloria as the constitutional successor, is the better option.

But the OilEx example captures what is wrong with Gloria, which she could correct before it is too late. She is too eager to latch on to what is popular even if she knows (she must know as an economist) that it is wrong. After Erap, we should have a leader who has a good idea of what is right and is ready to do it, even if it is not popular. That's what leadership is all about.

Unfortunately, our politicians, including Gloria, act on the basis of headlines and surveys rather than principles. The sharp dip in Gloria's rating can be explained as the reaction of a weary public that has grown disillusioned with this kind of unprincipled leadership. But, Gloria's what we have for the moment and we can only pray that once in position, she will be more of the statesman we can respect. After Erap, we sure need someone to respect up there.

Trial mysteries

When Ed Espiritu balked at having to name the smugglers who regularly partied with Erap at Malacañang, Senate President Nene Pimentel and Sen. Raul Roco observed that Mr. Espiritu was not afraid of the President, the supposed most powerful man in the country. But why was he afraid of the smugglers who are common criminals? Mr. Espiritu can only smile knowingly.

Gov. Chavit Singson, the man who started it all, wasn't afraid of the President either. He was even reported to have said in venues away from the impeachment court that Erap is a tough guy only in the movies, while he, Chavit, has lived a death-defying toughie's life all his life.

Still, the toughie that is Chavit, the man who is not afraid of President Erap, appears to be afraid of somebody. How else can one explain why Chavit developed a sudden and persistent case of amnesia when asked to identify "R.C." the name in his ledger who received P1.5 million. It seems unlikely for Chavit, who remembered everything else, even JimPol and the "balato" senators, not to know who "R.C." is.

Well, some guys in the coffee shops are trying to help him remember. They ruled out an aging police general who retired a long time ago but has the accursed initials. It couldn't be Sen. Rene Caye-tano because Rene and Chavit aren't known to have associated with each other. PR practitioner Raul Contreras says, it isn't him either, because it is too damn small an amount for him to mortgage his soul.

So, they have narrowed it down to a high Palace official related to Chavit or maybe it is a movie star, because that's just the amount Erap throws around to the girls who entertain him and his gang overnight. But I can't think of a movie star with the initials "R.C." unless that isn't the full name.

The Palace official seems to be a gentle enough creature, so scratch him out. It must be a movie star. Still, Chavit refuses to even give a hint. So, your guess is as good as mine, or anybody else's. But, wow! Whoever that "R.C." is must pack a lot of oomph. We haven't seen Chavit scared of anybody as much as he is of this "R.C."

Sick consul general

Foreign affairs sources tell me that our consul general in San Francisco, aging ex-actor Amado Cortez, has been sick for a number of months and had racked up medical bills of about $250,000 or about P13 million at P52:$1 exchange rate. The Foreign Affairs Department is at a loss on how to pay for this bill but pay it must because the credit rating of the Philippine government is at stake. They are thinking of asking President Erap to provide the funds from his Pagcor social fund.

I asked them how come they didn't cover Cortez with the appropriate health insurance. I was told Cortez was hired when he was over 70 years old and therefore beyond the scope of normal health insurance. He also had this serious pre-existing disease making an insurance coverage difficult or extremely expensive.

For humanitarian reasons, Cortez should be helped to pay those bills. But it is unfair to make the Filipino taxpayer pay millions for this actor's stateside medical care. That is rightfully the personal obligation of President Erap for having appointed him knowing that he was over retirement age, already sick and it was against the interest of the career foreign service.

Cortez is not even a career foreign service officer. He had already migrated to the US years before his appointment. He was a political appointee occupying a position normally reserved for career officers. I doubt if he was even an effective official. Maybe Erap should pay his bills out of the Jose Velarde accounts. Or, Erap should marshal the support of the movie industry to help Cortez and free the taxpayers of the burden.

And call him back home, so a replacement can be appointed to take care of national interests. He may be better taken care of here and cheaper too. They shouldn't be too generous with the taxpayer's money.

Sigaw ng masa

Got this txt msg on my cell phone about a pro Erap rally in Makati.

Lider: Ano ang sigaw ng masa?

Masa: Erap's remains…. Erap's remains….

(Boo Chanco's e-mail address is [email protected])