Quality electric power

As consumers, our concern has always been to maximize every centavo that we have to shell out each day in exchange for basic services. Thus we’ve been complaining about the high cost of electricity. But perhaps we have not really fully understood what the issue is all about.

Flashback: 1993 – the year when the country was suffering from eight-to-ten hour brownouts every single day. That period was a nightmare. We were sweating it out figuratively and literally. Students found it difficult to study because of the scorching heat in their classrooms; nor were they able to do their home work at night. Housewives were left with unfinished chores around the house. Laborers were less productive as electric power was irregular, and work had to be scheduled in shifts, and establishments were spending extra for generators. The Luzon Archipelago was bathed in darkness and households had additional problems to face: security, sleepless nights, noisy generators next door, and boredom!

If you ask me, I would rather pay the true cost of electricity than go through that nightmare again. After all, there’s no substitute for quality power – which can give us interrupted sleep every night, enable us to watch our favorite soap on TV, have efficient work systems, and productivity. In other words, a stable and quality electricity can enhance the quality of our lives.

President Macapagal-Arroyo must now act swiftly and without fear to prevent a looming power crisis, curb a runaway budget deficit, and provide long-term solutions to the high cost of electricity. She must not hesitate to implement radical changes that would create a competitive market and attract new investments, especially in the power sector.

For almost three years now, the government got cold feet in fully implementing the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) designed to institute reforms to spur growth and ensure quality, dependable and affordable electricity for all. Unfortunately, a lot of growth has been stymied by much-misguided consumer protests borne out of a refusal to understand how the power industry works.

Reforming the power sector will be a major factor. Also, the government and the private sector must create a synergy to remove what former energy chief Francisco Viray refers to as "embedded subsidies," develop a wholesale electricity spot market (WESM), and encourage retail competition. This will surely create an environment of stable power supply for all.

Honestly, we’re not seeing the bigger picture here. It’s high time that we consumers realize that we need to pay the real cost of electricity for better- quality service and more comfortable lives. We have to accept the fact that in life, there’s no such thing as a free lunch.

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We don’t always listen to bishops and priests for what they have to say about reproductive health and family planning. They don’t know what they’re talking about. There are Protestant ministers we won’t listen to either. A conversation with the Rev. Querubin Canlas, pastor of the Church of the Risen Lord at the University of the Philippines, Diliman (and a graduate of the Union Theological Seminary), gave us hope, though, that all is not lost with the clergy. There are some who understand the theological and feminist dimensions of the issue. Here is the good pastor’s reflection:

Personally, I would prefer that family planning be instituted though I definitely abhor abortion. The population of our country is increasing at an alarming rate. The resources at hand, however, continue to remain at the same level since nature has its inherent limits. If the population growth rate is allowed to continue, we are in trouble – and that is an understatement!

Yes, it is true that in Genesis, humankind was directed to multiply and have dominion over all living things. But it can be argued that that was before the Fall. Even that part of our dominion over all living things was modified during Noah’s time.

What I can glean from the biblical text is the subtle but consistent theme of responsibility. God provided humans with everything needed to live abundantly on this planet, and even allowed us the luxurious and precious gift of Free Choice. This is called the responsibility of stewardship.

Family planning need not be achieved through Hitlerian edicts that take away our right to choose our style of life. Family planning can be achieved through benign processes, through education of the masses, and the availability of methods that would allow the continuation of our pleasure, but ensure that unwanted pregnancies need not occur. No one should take that as license or promiscuity.

Now that I have mentioned sex, allow me to expound on that as well. God appreciates the need for a man to be with a woman suitable for him who will complete the act of procreation. The Revised Standard Version of the Oxford Annotated Bible states that "Sex is not regarded as evil but as a God-given impulse which draws man to a woman together so that they become one flesh."

This would lead me back to the issue of stewardship over all living things. This would definitely include even ourselves. Our responsibility for the well-being of everyone else. Our responsibility towards others includes the careful use of resources for ourselves, the members of our family, and our society.

The planning of our families is a concrete manifestation of our concern for all humankind since we all have to share what resources our planet has. Irresponsible hogging of more than our fair share cannot be but an abuse of our stewardship and a failure of our relationship with God.

We should not leave the decision on the number of our children and the size of our families to the government. It has enough problems to hurdle. Nor should we leave the decision to the church authorities alone. Yes, it is imperative to consult God on all decisions specially on planning our families. But let us not put words into God’s mouth. God has already allowed us the wherewithal to maintain the viability of the world.

Our stewardship involves the task of feeding, clothing, and maintaining our loved ones, so that they too will be able to live meaningful lives until the fulfillment of God’s Kingdom.

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