A ‘trapo’ for energy chief? Hope not! - DEMAND AND SUPPLY

It is taking the Arroyo administration quite a while naming a new Secretary of Energy. A lot of names have been mentioned as the possible appointee of President Arroyo and, up until now, the names have been largely acceptable. It was only very recently that one name was mentioned, a known ‘trapo’ of Joe de V days, that there was reason for alarm.

Well, that's just what President Arroyo needs to alienate the People Power 2 folks: Appoint a justifiably forgotten ‘trapo’ in an important Cabinet post. Actually, it might be better to just make DTI Secretary Mar Roxas the officer in charge of the Department of Energy, than have a ‘trapo’ on top of it.

Luckily, there isn't any crisis in the energy sector today. Oil prices have more or less stabilized and the sector pretty much functions on its own. The power sector, on account of Napocor's huge debts, needs some tending and there is someone there already appointed by the President to do that.

A Secretary of Energy who understands the oil industry pricing mechanism is always nice to have. Now, we only have Ronnie Concepcion's Price Watch to tell us if the oil companies are exceeding the bounds of decency in their pricing. That was the advantage of Mario Tiaoqui. He knew the industry and the oil companies couldn't razzle dazzle him with their complicated formulas.

But whoever gets to be Secretary of Energy is probably going to be a lot weaker than his or her predecessors. For one thing, the Napocor president was appointed ahead and has established a direct reporting relationship with President Arroyo. For another, the new Energy Secretary will no longer be the Chairman of PNOC because former Rep. Sergio Apostol of "madame wetness" fame was already given the job as a consolation prize. Without the two top energy companies under the Energy Chief, the title has become a little empty.

So the Energy Department has become a policy formulation and monitoring office. That's something like the Office of Energy Affairs when then President Aquino abolished the department after EDSA 1. That was a function performed so well by the late Pat de la Paz, whose wife, Cora, was incidentally, mentioned as a potential Secretary of Energy in this administration.

Among the many names I have heard, the one most worthy is Rufino Bomasang, a former Undersecretary of Energy who rose from the ranks. A mining engineer, "Boomie" also took the Senior Business Economics Program at the then Center for Research and Communication the same time I did. His specialty is coal and energy exploration, which are just about the only areas left within the scope of the Department of Energy.

Having "Boomie" in the Cabinet also gives the Cordillera region an able representation, something that has not happened in many years. And most important, "Boomie" is honest and competent. "Boomie" may be a little short in physical stature and soft spoken but if he is given full support by President Arroyo, that's all the clout he needs to deal with the big boys.

Between a known ‘trapo’ and a technocrat like "Boomie," I think the choice is clear. We also do not need a lawyer as energy secretary. That is a technical department and we need someone there who actually understands what energy is all about. "Boomie" has worked the minefields out there as well as the jungles of government bureaucracy to know what the job entails.

Or alternatively, the other name I heard is Raul H. Paredes. Raul would make an excellent Secretary of Energy. I have worked with him at PNOC, even traveled with him once to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia on an oil-buying mission. He knows energy like the back of his hand. He has served as the top man of Caltex in the Southeast Asian region and was number two or three in the hierarchy at Caltex headquarters in Dallas.

But has he resigned long enough from Caltex to qualify for the job?

Air rights

Maybe it is time that we revert to the situation during the Aquino watch when the Secretary of Tourism was the Chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB). We do need to have a more marketing oriented CAB in order to maximize the benefits of granting air rights to various countries and by extension, to their airlines. At the very least, Dick Gordon should be the Vice Chairman of the CAB.

Marketing the country as a tourism destination is also a function of having the flights into and out of the country. It is not just a question of the legalities in the procedures and the air treaties that must be accounted for. In the meantime, the DOTC Secretary acting as CAB Chairman should invite Dick Gordon to attend CAB meetings.

The presence of the Tourism Secretary in CAB deliberations will broaden the approach taken by the board by giving it a better marketing orientation. Besides, Dick has quite a mission to accomplish. He can use all the help, all the powers he can get from this government.

Job creation

Lost in the pile of political news coverage is the startling revelation from Mareng Winnie Monsod that from October 1999 to October 2000, the Estrada administration created the grand total of 30,000 jobs. Mareng Winnie got her data from NSO figures. In comparison, they were generating at least a million jobs a year when she was with the Aquino Cabinet. But even that was not enough.

Her mission, should she find herself in the Senate, is to review and reform policies and introduce legislation that will foster job creation. That's how to be pro-poor in deed and not just in press releases.

Biased

Dr. Ernie E thinks kids today are biased.

Kids today are sure different... much more biased than when we were kids. When we take them to the store, they say, "Bias this" and "Bias that."

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