Blackout in Panglao

There may be reason to believe that the so-called “Solomonic solution” arrived at by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo concerning the controversy over power rates and practices was nothing more than a short circuit that will eventually lead to a “news blackout” or a shut down on the issue.

Any veteran observer of government can easily conclude that the President’s decision to turn over the problem to her “economic board of advisers” is either an act of washing her hands clear of her commitment and responsibility (the same way Pontius Pilate did) or a more modern version of passing the buck designed to spiral down the issue into oblivion.

The “blackout at Panglao” may also just be an effort to buy time or give the players a chance to come clean and come back with solutions, but by extricating herself from the issue the President has done the equivalent of removing the engine room from the rest of the train. Addressing the ills of the power industry should never be about the Arroyos, the Lopezes or ABS CBN.

The crisis is about saving what is left of business, industry, and encouraging the little potential investments greatly affected by electric power and price. It is about helping the Filipino people find some form or manner of relief at a time of great economic duress. It is about giving the country a break!

The power distributors and cooperatives claim to operate above board and legally, Government claims we can’t serve without the taxes, the economists claim VAT holidays will ruin the tax system and income stream of government. The business community claim they will eventually have to cut back or move out. Filipinos simply can’t afford anymore.

Unfortunately for all parties concerned, inaction or not addressing the problem will not make it go away especially when crude oil has just burst the bubble of $135 per barrel. Our problems are just about to get worse with Iran simply hoarding their oil harvests in gigantic tankers in order to force buyers to pay world prices for inferior quality oil, China needing to go on overdrive due to their recent earthquake catastrophe that has made no less than 5 million people homeless and penniless, and The United States on the verge of looking for an excuse to obliterate the emerging Energy Terrorists.

For some strange reason no one seems to be willing or concerned enough to tell ordinary people like us that we are facing a situation as foreboding as the storms that have come with the unusually early rainy season. 

Instead of working towards a common goal, we see the players spend millions of pesos to discredit each other. We see the lead characters pretending to be open minded and conciliatory, and the greatest shame is how opinion manipulators have done the rounds feeding news or column items to so-called enlightened or objective media personalities just so stock holders will not stage a revolt. The effort was so blatant that it almost seemed like the “scripts” were written in the same room. If only for this, the PR guy who headed this effort certainly earned his pay for the week. To add insult to injury we will soon witness how the stockholders meeting of one power company will be used as a torch to light the way for the entire power Industry.

Our Pastors constantly remind us that in God’s ways, Delay is not necessarily Denial. But in terms of the power price controversy further delays simply assure our slippery descent to economic disaster. We simply cannot pay “first world” prices in a “third world country”.

“DO NOT CURSE THE DARKNESS BUT INSTEAD LIGHT A CANDLE”

 Let’s face it. No one can make a bigger difference in our situation more than us.

We are no longer talking about cost cutting and savings but an inventory and rationalization of our way of life. Only in redesigning how we think and how we live will we be able to cope and better manage our resources.

While I am known to collect old cars, my vehicle of choice are the more efficient ones in terms of mileage and carrying capacity. If people want to see old cars they can go to the garage. From V-8 Suburbans to 6-cylinder land cruisers I am now using a 4-cylinder Revo. Soon it will be a diesel power or a small sedan on LPG.

When we first moved to our own house we had a spacious “masters bedroom”. But the minute the electric rates shot up, we converted it into an arts and crafts room and moved into the smallest room using the smallest air-con in the market. By next year the plan is to grow a natural cover over the front wall to reduce heat absorption and maybe use smaller but double paned windows.

I have always been proud of having a lot of plants on our roof deck, but we have slowly shifted from ornamental plants to vegetables and spices. I have no illusions on the potential output but this is the first step to growing your own food. We have built up our “backyard” chicken coops in Lipa and we will be planting corn wherever possible.

No I am not turning into an agriculture columnist. We have been doing a study where even by the roughest estimates we determined that many families including maids, yayas, houseboy, driver, and the regular visitors could easily rack up 100 to 150 thousand pesos in food bills a year. Go do your own homework and realize that by growing some of this stuff, you could save the money and use it to pay your household. Instead of firing excess staff, I am now going teach them to plant and raise “farm produce” enough to earn their wages.

The power of One impacts Ten.