Protecting the ‘crown jewels’

There is a very timely presentation being made by the youthful tandem of "high-energy" energy officials these days. Energy Secretary Vincent Perez Jr. and National Transmission Corporation (Transco) president and CEO Dr. Alan T. Ortiz have teamed up and have "hit the road" in a quiet bid to assure businessmen and local officials all over the country that there is hope that the feared power crisis may not take place at all.

Perez and Ortiz have chosen the "road less traveled" by opting to conduct face-to-face presentations before business and consumer groups instead of hyping their development efforts through media. This column learned that in the process, they have had to face up to many awkward situations where participants in the gabs have stood up merely to embarrass them.

Despite the risk of these face-to-face meetings with power end-users, President Arroyo’s "dynamic duo" continue to comb the countryside, presenting the government’s power generation and transmission development programs to whoever may care to listen.

The duo have been conducting these low profile dialogues in Mindanao and the Visayas since last year. This year, the focus of their roadshow is Luzon, unveiling an ambitious P60 plus billion transmission augmentation program that will ensure the provinces in this island that power will reach their homes reliably and more efficiently within the decade.

It appears, however, that the main message of Perez and Ortiz‚ sorties is not the government’s program itself but the government’s call for private sector participation and for the public to reject pessimism and adopt a positive posture regarding the prospects of the power sector.

A particular call that has received enthusiastic response is that of the need for everyone to help protect the country’s "crown jewels." What they are actually referring to are the valuable power transmission lines and substations that are stringed across the major islands of the country.

These are the country’s "crown jewels", they explained, not only because of their value in dollars but also because damage these assets could spell disaster to businesses, industries, schools and other sectors. Electricity is the lifeline of social, political and financial commerce. Its transmission cannot be interrupted. They must, therefore, be protected from sabotage and pilferage.

If there is one very good thing coming out their face-to-face meetings, it is the growing awareness by the public that we all need to pitch-in in the effort to battle hopelessness and in the protection of our power generation and transmission assets.

After all, electricity is an issue that has no political, racial or religious boundaries. As the tandem underscores in their sorties, every Filipino has a right to it. And so, every Filipino must help preserve it.

Giving Recognition Where Due

The signing of Republic Act no. 9275, or the Clean Water Act, into law is indeed another victory for the environment.

To begin with, the bill on Clean Water has been filed and re-filed in several congresses but during the 12th Congress, both Houses considered it as one of the priority bills to be passed. The Clean Water Bill was re-filed in both chambers simultaneously. At the House, technical working group (TWG) meetings under the Committee on Ecology started discussions on the bill around November of 2001. At about the same time, the Senate Committee on Environment also started its TWG meetings on the bill. Expectedly, both have almost the same attendees consisting of government and private sector representatives and those from the NGO community. I would say that the quality of legislation that the Clean Water Act has become can be attributed much to the contribution of the private sector that has painstakingly argued for logical and pragmatic provisions based on technical and economic perspectives.

During the signing, however, only the NGOs were acknowledged. Each NGO representative was called to have their picture taken with the President but not a single private sector organization was recognized. It may have been just a simple mistake. Or was it?

Among the private organizations represented in the TWG are the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), Beverage Industry Association of the Philippines (BIAP), Philippine Sugar Millers Association (PSMA), Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI), Philippine Business for the Environment (PBE), Philippine Exporters Association (Philexport), Philippine Chamber of Mines, and the Pollution Control Association of the Philippines, Inc. (PCAPI).

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