Energy Secretary Almendras must not quit!

The problem of the power shortage crisis in Mindanao should have been resolved during the Estrada and GMA administration. The problem is that no one at that time had the sense of urgency to fix the problem. Full of talk, no action – they had other priorities to attend to.

The current Secretary of Energy, Jose Rene Almendras appointed by President Aquino on June 2010 has been burning the midnight oil for the past year and a half trying to find a solution to the energy problem in Mindanao which was already foreseen 10 years ago.

Mind you, this guy is a hardworking man. He is not a politician. He is a worker. He is qualified to do the job. If he quits, we will be doomed. My alikabok says that the big stakeholders in the power industry have been talking to him, telling him to stay on the job.

Why would all these bigwigs want to keep Almendras in the job when opposing groups want him out? Well, among the other qualified applicants for the job, Almendras is the sure thing. He has the character, the qualifications and experiences we need to get things done. He is a professional indeed.

He started his corporate career at Citytrust Banking Corporation. He worked for the Aboitiz Group as the Company’s Treasurer (Aboitiz Company and Aboitiz Equity Ventures). He became the President City Savings Bank which became one of the biggest in Cebu.

In 2001, he joined Ayala Land Inc. He was appointed CEO of Cebu Holdings Inc., Cebu Property Ventures and Development Corporation. He assumed the role of Business Group Head for VISMIN (Ayala Land) and concurrently Operations Transformation Group Head of Ayala Land.

In 2007, he was appointed to Manila Water Company as its Business Group Head. He transformed the customer service of Manila Water resulting to record breaking customer satisfaction rating. Two years later, he assumed the role of President of Manila Water.

Under his term the company was awarded as one of the Best Managed Companies in Asia, Best in Corporate Governance, one of the Greenest Companies in the Philippines and most recently, hailed as the world’s Most Efficient Water Company. To date, Manila Water continues to expand service in the East Zone and is now present in Vietnam, India, Australia, Laguna and Boracay.

The point is we need to let the Secretary do his job. We can judge him after 2-3 years. Right now, there have been marked improvements already so what’s the problem? I truly believe that it is not the Secretary who should be blamed for the problem but the Mindanao congressmen, governors and mayors who did not want to sell the government-owned power plants. Since 2001 when the EPIRA law was enacted, they refused to sell Agus and Pulangui Hydroelectric power plants. I’ve heard too much stories about these Mindanao politicians and at the end of day it all sums up to – pride, conceit, power play and corruption. They better talk amongst themselves and solve their own problem. Sanamagan!

There is just too much politics going on in this country. Oppositional forces are going ballistic and always wanting to destroy the P-Noy administration. But enough is enough. Sure if P-Noy has a bad apple in his Cabinet we must let him know but when the other apples are red and of good quality, let’s not pick on them. We need to support our government right now. It’s the only one we have. Very soon, Myanmar will overtake us if we continue to behave this way.

* * *

So, what is actually happening in Mindanao? Is Sec. Almendras keeping the truth from everyone? Data shows that there are 27 electric cooperatives that are in Mindanao. Of the 27, 13 did not have brownouts in the last week of March. That is about 50%. Davao and Cagayan de Oro did not have brownouts either because Davao Light and Cepalco had contracts with Electric Cooperative/Private Distribution Utilities to dispatch power.

Then why can’t the power generator that gave power to Davao fill up what is lacking in other areas of Mindanao? Simply put, they will end up not having enough for their own use. Mindanao needs a new power plant. There is an existing one already but it is not operational. This is the Therma Marine with one of the barges owned by Aboitiz. The two barges have a capacity of 200MW. Only one is being used because there is no contract with the distribution utilities (electric cooperatives and some private distribution utilities).

Senator Serge Osmeña reminded us in a radio interview that we cannot build a power plant overnight. The only plants available to cover the shortfall in Mindanao are the power barges of NAPOCOR and the power barges of Therma Marine. Unless these are used, the brownout problem in Mindanao will grow bigger. As it is, the region is suffering from 1 to 3 hours of brownout everyday. This can be brought down to 1 hour a day by June if we use these barges.

To add to the Secretary’s burdens, three weeks ago, he discovered that Pulangui Dam in Bukidnon needs to be repaired. The repair of Pulangui IV has already begun last April 9 and will run until May 9.

I hope the energy summit last week presided by P-Noy with the Mindanao Development Authority (Minda) as the lead government agency has been able to come up with a common consensus on how to address the power shortage in Mindanao. The solution to the problem is for the 2 barges to run this year as well as the Iligan diesel power plant. Therefore, the COA should expedite the solution to the legal issues preventing the operation of this plant. The Energy and Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) must also be reviewed. The other solution is for all government stakeholders in the area to unite and agree to what needs to be done without prolonging the issues.

The sad reality is that by 2013 the new power plants will not be finished. There will be a need to transfer the power barges from Luzon to Mindanao.

Perhaps there is also a need for the president to talk to the electric cooperatives in Mindanao. He has to talk to members of Congress from the region, the local government officials and the people of Mindanao. He is right in asking them to share the burden.