Mga Cebuano proud ba ni Winston Garcia?

[godwhacker]

lapas na may 29, wa gihapon..pagarpar ra cya kutob..

We'll see how far this will go. Gi headline man karon sa Inquirer nga mobayad ug refund ang Meralco worth 2.7B. Dugay na ni kaayo nga order sa Supreme Court pero wala ma implementar kay wa molihok ang ERC. Karon nalang napukaw ug balik ni nga isyuha kay nag saba-saba si Winston.

Ug mobayad ang Meralco sa 2.7B Winston's noise wasn't in vain. This could just be the opening salvo sa uban pang atraso sa Meralco sa consuming public. And remember 2.7B is a lot of money!

[godwhacker]

Meralco to refund P2.7B in deposits

By Abigail L. Ho
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 23:53:00 06/07/2008

ABOUT P2.7 BILLION IN REFUNDS WILL SOON BE PAID customers of the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) for their meter deposits. Customers of the country’s biggest distribution utility have been paying the deposits since the 1980s when applying for electric service.

Customers not just of Meralco, which covers Metro Manila and Luzon, but of other distribution utilities and electric cooperatives nationwide, will be entitled to the refunds on these meter deposits, plus interest, with the approval by the Energy Regulatory Commission of the guidelines to govern the rebates.

Under the rules of the ERC order, issued June 4 and released late Friday, private distribution utilities, including the Lopez-led Meralco, should start issuing the refunds six months after the effectivity of the rules.

Non-stock and non-profit electric cooperatives, on the other hand, have 24 months upon the effectivity of the rules to prepare for the issuance of their own refunds.

The ERC rules will become effective 15 days after publication in a newspaper of general circulation.

“The ERC urges the cooperation of both the distribution utilities and the electricity consumers to facilitate the orderly and prompt implementation of the meter deposit refund as soon as the set of rules becomes effective,” said ERC Chair Rodolfo Albano Jr.

The ERC order does not cover however the refund of bill deposits that consumer groups and legislators led by Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile have been demanding from Meralco. The ERC has yet to issue the guidelines on the bill deposits.

As of end-2007, Meralco’s meter deposits, including interest, amounted to P2.7 billion. As of end-2006, the bill deposits amounted to P16.5 billion.

Apart from the refunds of the actual meter deposits, customers of private distribution utilities are also entitled to interest income on their meter deposits, at rates stated in the ERC rules.

Residential and non-residential customers who paid their meter deposits prior to the effectivity of the Energy Regulatory Board resolution on Sept. 22, 1995, will be entitled to an interest of 6 percent a year.

Those who paid their meter deposits after the issuance of that ERB resolution and until the day before the effectivity of the Magna Carta for Residential Electricity Consumers, or DSOAR, will enjoy a 10-percent yearly interest.

The state regulator stopped the distribution utilities from collecting meter deposits after the Magna Carta came into effect in 2004.

Electricity users who paid from the effectivity of the Magna Carta until the day before the implementation of the refund will be entitled to an interest of 6 percent a year.

Customers could opt to get their meter deposit and interest refunds in cash or check, or just have these credited to their future monthly electricity bills. They could also use the refund amount to offset due and demandable claims against them.

Customers of electric cooperatives, however, will not be entitled to interest on their meter deposit refunds as these power distributors are non-profit organizations.

Refund methods for these customers are the same as those for distribution utility clients. The only difference is that customers can also convert these refunds into contributions or equity that must be recorded in the books of the electric cooperatives.

Customers applying for refunds are required to present valid proofs of identification and registration, like their electricity bills.

Meanwhile, the Makati Business Club has accused the government of damaging public institutions in what it said was its attempt to wrest control of Meralco.

“Damaging public institutions in this way is plainly bad governance. It sends the signal to the private sector that this administration is prepared to sacrifice public institutions and its own reform program for political objectives,” the group said in a statement.

The group said that by using the Securities and Exchange Commission to try to gain control of Meralco via the Government Service Insurance System, the administration effectively contributed to the erosion of the credibility of the SEC.

“The Makati Business Club stands firmly against the use of state power to intimidate the private sector and vigorously opposes the nationalization of the electric power industry. Reverse-privatization is the worst way to bring down the cost of electricity, as state-owned enterprises in this country are vulnerable to political patronage and are inefficient due to lack of competition,” it added.

It said that Republic Act 8799 had transferred the responsibility of settling all intra-corporate disputes to the regional trial courts, making the SEC’s intervention in the war being waged by GSIS against the Lopezes of Meralco “improper.”

“By allowing itself to be used by the GSIS to wrest management control, the SEC has contributed to the diminution of its own credibility. The administration has used the consumerist cause of lowering the price of electricity as the rationale for revamping Meralco’s management,” MBC said.

In response, GSIS chief legal counsel Estrella Elamparo assailed the MBC for “blindly [defending] the Lopez family.”

“They should look at both sides and not make sweeping accusations. In fact, the MBC should be speaking against the excesses being committed by the Lopezes in Meralco,” Elamparo said in a separate statement.

She said the GSIS was not out to take over Meralco but only wanted to have a professional team run the company.

“Meralco will become attractive anew to investors when it is freed from the stranglehold of the Lopezes. Meralco will be better managed and will be fully accountable based on international good corporate practices,” she said.

Also Saturday, Sen. Loren Legarda asked the ERC to implement a Supreme Court resolution in December 2007 ordering an audit of Meralco.

“Whatever happened to the Supreme Court resolution ordering the Energy Regulatory Commission to audit the Manila Electric Company?” Legarda asked.

Legarda said that there was no public disclosure if the ERC had already complied with the order.

“I support a public audit of the Meralco inasmuch as it is a public utility and that the public, through the millions of shareholders and consumers, has a big stake in it,” Legarda said in a statement.

She said an ERC audit of the country’s biggest power distribution firm was timely in the wake of raging controversies involving allegations of mismanagement by the Lopez family.

In the 2007 decision, the high tribunal ordered a public audit of the Meralco’s financial operations in response to the consolidated cases entitled Meralco v Genaro Lualhati, and ERC v Genaro Lualhati, promulgated on Dec. 6, 2006.

In the decision, the high court affirmed the ERC ruling on the unbundled rates, effectively increasing the electricity cost to the consumer, and the sound value of Meralco’s net utility plant. But the high court ordered the ERC, with the help of the Commission on Audit, to make a complete examination of Meralco’s books, records and accounts to see to it that the rate increases that Meralco was asking for were justified.

With a report from Cynthia D. Balana

[giddyboy]

sorry wala kaau ko kaila niya, pero the motives are very clear... "POWER"

i respect that opinion, but how about we take a closer look on the definition of POWER? let's take a closer look on how power was being used. what purpose was it being used for? what was the result of using that power? good? bad?

although the definition of power (political) is still debated up to now, here are some:

Power is the capacity to restructure actual situations.
—I.C. Macmillan

Power is "the ability to influence the behaviour of others" with or without resistance.
--wikipedia

The trait of Decision-making is the source and main indicator of power.
--Robert Dahl

"Friedrich Nietzsche's view of power lent credence to the view that power in human society was part of a training process in which everyone, from a prime minister to a homeless person, played their role within the power structure of society."---wikipedia

so if we say W. Garcia used his "power", WHO is he throwing it against? Answer: The Lopezes

HOW? Answer: by making noise at Meralco

WHAT for? to make Meralco accountable for their wrongdoings. to make it more efficient and transparent. to lower down rates.

WHAT benefit could it do to the general public? what will be the result?

these are the questions that we have to ponder on...

IMHO, what Winston did was in some way gave POWER BACK TO THE PEOPLE...and i don't have to explain all that.

Neal of the Inquirer is suggesting that we should be proud of Winston. Gabriela partylist is on his side, though indirectly. Now in contrast, the Makati Business Club is siding w/ the Lopezes. now Judy Ann is too.

as Cebuanos, whose side are we?

@godwacker: that article u got there is good news...

[raul]

"IMHO, what Winston did was in some way gave POWER BACK TO THE PEOPLE...and i don't have to explain all that."

Really? or is it, he is taking it for there selves(the political party their in)? your W.Garcia is barking the wrong tree for that matter. If this is his (said) way to lower down the rates, then his way is superficial. getting the JUAN's involved by injecting meralco management issues to our minds?, yah right!!! unsay tan-aw ninyo sa mga pinoy?BOGO? hatag2 pamo subsidy, what are you trying to do? making the people rely more on government subsidies? Why not go down to the root cause of all this, which is high cost of generation, the ever increasing oil prices and they are deregulated, napocor and other IPP's in luzon charges a lot more than how much we are charge in vismin.

I still believe all that has happen, are attempts to gain more power, knowing what businesses the lopezes' are in to, and i bet their target is their media network(radio,tv,print...), man if you have that, that whats you call POWER. they can have all the mileage they want, need or much better GREED or better yet silence them. How many times the current government tried this? and we know they will try to this over and over again till they get what they GREED.

"gave POWER BACK TO THE PEOPLE" please do, regulate, stop the connivance of this oil firms and i think even the small players are into this too already. Make better laws that would prohibit or at least avoid monopoly, instead of your using your legislators to extend you stay in government. that's what meralco have in luzon, plus luzon has the highest cost of generation. you can't blame them! you allowed to them to it all this time.

or another suggestion, a very costly suggestion, put up a competition against meralco...anywayz given your kickbacks on contracts bla bla...not to mention the other sidelines you and members of your family are doing known to you, and the people will someday know, gamay nalng cguro pun-anan ana para maka put-up mo ug business to compete against meralco.

[godwhacker]

Why not go down to the root cause of all this, which is high cost of generation, the ever increasing oil prices and they are deregulated, napocor and other IPP's in luzon charges a lot more than how much we are charge in vismin.



that's what meralco have in luzon, plus luzon has the highest cost of generation. you can't blame them! you allowed to them to it all this time.

I both agree and disagree.

Agree in the sense that power generation is costly because we depend too much on fossil fuels. Why not reconsider new generation of nuclear plants which are safer than their counterparts several decades ago?

And I disagree in the sense that all throughout the archipelago NAPOCOR in fact has the least cost and even Meralco agrees on this. See the article below:


On Meralco website, Napocor offers ‘least-cost’ electricity


Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:22:00 05/15/2008

In her speech before the Federation of Philippine Industries, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo directed National Power Corp. (Napocor) to charge Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) only P4.11 per kilowatt-hour in light of the widely reported P0.52/kWh increase in Meralco’s generation charge—from P4.3885/kWh in March 2008 to P4.9043/kWh in April 2008. (“Arroyo takes on Meralco,” Philippine Daily Inquirer, 5/3/0

Media reports quoted Meralco as saying that the increase was due to the high cost of electricity coming from Napocor and the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM). The reports also quoted Napocor and WESM explaining that their rates vary every hour of the day; that at certain hours, called non-peak hours, the rates are low; and that if Meralco wants lower rates from Napocor and WESM, all it has to do is buy electricity during the non-peak hours. Meralco countered that the generation charge is a pass-on charge and the utility is not earning from this charge because it is just a distribution company. To further appease the growing restiveness of the public, Meralco explained that it has been transparent and urged the public to visit their website which shows the rates coming from their different sources of electricity.

In preparation for the Consultative Meeting, organized by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) upon the request of EMPOWER, of which the National Association of Electric Consumers for Reforms (NASECORE) is part of, I visited the Meralco website and printed the page showing its generation charge (according to each source) for April 2008. Surprisingly and contrary to the claims of Meralco, the Napocor rate appearing on the website was only P4.01/kWh as against the P4.90/kWh generation charge that Meralco billed its customers. Under Sec. 4 of Republic Act 9209 (Meralco franchise) and Sec. 23 of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act, Meralco is obliged to supply its captive customers with electricity in the least-cost manner.

It would not take a college graduate to understand that the least cost supply of electricity in this instance was the Napocor rate of P4.01/kWh, and this should have been the rate billed to the 4.4 million Meralco customers, not the P4.90/kWh which was P0.89/kWh higher.

In light of this, we believe we were misled if not deceived by Meralco when it announced that the reason for the P0.52/kWh increase in its generation charge in April 2008 was the high rates of Napocor and WESM. We also believe that we should have been charged only the Napocor rate of P4.01/kWh which is the least cost and that the P0.89/kWh excess charge should be refunded to the Meralco customers. We hope the ERC will share the position of NASECORE and use its “motu proprio” powers to direct Meralco to refund the over-billing and impose the corresponding penalty. Should ERC advise us that a petition is necessary, we will gladly file one.

PETE L. ILAGAN, president, National Association of Electricity Consumers for Reforms, Inc. (NASECORE), Tambo, Parañaque City

Therefore, what you said earlier that electricity in Luzon is costly as compared to the Visayas is of course true because as what Meralco already admitted, they have jacked up the price due to the system losses that they pass on to the consumers. The question now is why that much?

Daghan ug gi batbat ang mga watchers like:

1. Meralco has too many managers and supervisors than people who actually do the job.
2. It has been reported that even their offices and branches are free of electricity because what they consume is also passed to the pockets of the consuming public.
3. Meralco buys expensive electricity from their sister companies who are generating power. Of course the sister companies will benefit more.

These are just few of the points that has been brought up but then Meralco will try to do damage control.

[giddyboy]

"IMHO, what Winston did was in some way gave POWER BACK TO THE PEOPLE...and i don't have to explain all that."

Really? or is it, he is taking it for there selves(the political party their in)? your W.Garcia is barking the wrong tree for that matter. If this is his (said) way to lower down the rates, then his way is superficial. getting the JUAN's involved by injecting meralco management issues to our minds?, yah right!!! unsay tan-aw ninyo sa mga pinoy?BOGO? hatag2 pamo subsidy, what are you trying to do? making the people rely more on government subsidies? Why not go down to the root cause of all this, which is high cost of generation, the ever increasing oil prices and they are deregulated, napocor and other IPP's in luzon charges a lot more than how much we are charge in vismin.

I still believe all that has happen, are attempts to gain more power, knowing what businesses the lopezes' are in to, and i bet their target is their media network(radio,tv,print...), man if you have that, that whats you call POWER. they can have all the mileage they want, need or much better GREED or better yet silence them. How many times the current government tried this? and we know they will try to this over and over again till they get what they GREED.

"gave POWER BACK TO THE PEOPLE" please do, regulate, stop the connivance of this oil firms and i think even the small players are into this too already. Make better laws that would prohibit or at least avoid monopoly, instead of your using your legislators to extend you stay in government. that's what meralco have in luzon, plus luzon has the highest cost of generation. you can't blame them! you allowed to them to it all this time.

or another suggestion, a very costly suggestion, put up a competition against meralco...anywayz given your kickbacks on contracts bla bla...not to mention the other sidelines you and members of your family are doing known to you, and the people will someday know, gamay nalng cguro pun-anan ana para maka put-up mo ug business to compete against meralco.

yeah. Really.

Superficial? in what way? did u happen to read Neal's article on what good results this meralco noise brought about?

"Were it not for the noise he made about Meralco, this utility would still be merrily doing what it has been doing during the pre-Winston Garcia era—OVERCHARGING its customers."

"Meralco shenanigans having been exposed, their activities under scrutiny, and the laws and rules under which they have abused their privilege with impunity being reviewed."

"Most of all, the eyes of the public have been opened to the fact that for decades power consumers were being abused by Meralco."

NOW, isn't that what we call GIVING POWER BACK TO THE PEOPLE? Now, it would depend to the people to accept that "power" or not. and i guess it's pretty clear you won't.

Power can be used without Greed. and IMHO, this Meralco case is one. Let us be reminded that W.Garcia is not a politician. He is a corporate person. of course, he has political affiliations w/ the admin side. he also has the capability for power play. but it is deemed proper to take a better perspective on those. just because he is affiliated w/ the PGMA admin that some people hate so much, we also make sweeping accusations against him?

and why do u see it as "barking at the wrong tree"? do u think that Winston's noise on Meralco is barking at the wrong tree? do u think that the joint senate investigation on the Epira law and the power players like Napocor and the IPP's is barking at the wrong tree? AS FAR AS I CAN SEE IT, they actually cover all the root causes of high power rates, especially in Manila...

AFAIK, dili ra man gani admin ang ga yawyaw ani. even with the likes of Gabriela, BayanMuna, Freedom from Debt Coalition, Loren Legarda, and my favorite Chiz Escudero are enjoining the calls to correct Meralco wrongdoings...

do u think Winston's (and the senate's) actions are undermining the intellect of pinoys? aw c'mon...where have u been?

to say, "unsay tan-aw ninyo sa mga pinoy? BOGO?" well, all i can say is TELL THAT instead to the FOREIGN CHAMBERS that by-passed the senate and went directly to the office of the president to stop changing the Epira law...mayra nila gisabonan nuon ug husto cla sa senado...TELL THAT instead to the Lopezes who control Meralco.

and about the power subsidy nga gipang hatag, we all know it's only a temporary band aid solution. if u feel dili ka ganahan modawat ky lagi u feel insulted sa intellect, aw ayaw dawata gud. wa may namugos nimo...

[cdburgh]

as Cebuanos, whose side are we?

I've expressed my views on this topic several times over. I will no longer elaborate further since that seems to be a futile exercise.

Can't help but react to this line tough. So I guess all Germans should have no problem agreeing with Hitler, or Italians with Mussolini, everyone from florida must've been in favor with waging war in iraq (lest these words be taken out of context again I said in iraq and NOT with iraq).

This argument is not the best way to improve Mr. Garcia's numbers on this poll. Argue ta tamas ginhawa on the merits and facts as we see it but one cannot win an argument based on "let's vote based on asa tang region gikan."

[giddyboy]

I've expressed my views on this topic several times over. I will no longer elaborate further since that seems to be a futile exercise.

Can't help but react to this line tough. So I guess all Germans should have no problem agreeing with Hitler, or Italians with Mussolini, everyone from florida must've been in favor with waging war in iraq (lest these words be taken out of context again I said in iraq and NOT with iraq).

This argument is not the best way to improve Mr. Garcia's numbers on this poll. Argue ta tamas ginhawa on the merits and facts as we see it but one cannot win an argument based on "let's vote based on asa tang region gikan."

im sorry but u clearly missed out the meaning in my asking that question. it doesn't mean to "vote based on asa ta region nga gikan". That is not my intention. I'm just asking that question the same way this topic is all about and that is "what the Cebuanos has to say about him"...

tanawa lng gud unsay title sa thread...di ba it is asking only the Cebuanos...

ug alang alang moingon ko ug "As Manilenyos, whose side are u?", nga kaklarong Cebuanong bisdak man kau ko? basin gani ikaw pud...it is just like asking if "Are Cebuanos proud of Tomas Osmena?" again, that's because he is a Cebuano being talked about by fellow Cebuanos...

ok, ok, let's just say nga to erase the impression of "vote based on asa ta region nga gikan" the politically correct line should've been, "Are Filipinos proud of Winston?". well, u should suggest the thread starter to increase the scope of the topic for that matter to include all Filipinos...

[tinsi]

I'm sorry giddy boy but I have to agree with cdburgh here, when you let out a litany to argue your point and end it with "as Cebuanos whose side are you on? " the AS in that phrase does not simply reword the title of the thread . Dili man sala sa nagbasa nga sayup ang conjunction nga imong gigamit. You may have intended it to mean as you explained but the wording as written was the basis for cdburgh's post. Well at least your clarified it.

[cdburgh]

after all the discussions, as of today's poll, most cebuanos are not proud of winston garcia.