‘Don’t Threaten Brownouts, Keep Public Interest In Mind’
Manila, Philippines – Malacañang yesterday slammed the threat made by the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) to start implementing brownouts soon if the Supreme Court (SC) does not lift its temporary restraining order (TRO) on the power rate hike.
Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Herminio Coloma, Jr. said while Meralco is not government-owned, the nature of its business is imbued with public interest. Therefore, Meralco should keep public interest in mind, he said.
“We reiterate government’s commitment to protect the welfare of the citizens. As the President has pointed out, the trigger for the significant power rate increase that is now at issue in the Supreme Court was a foreseeable event for which Meralco and other industry players should have prepared,” Coloma said.
“Most importantly, government believes that unjustifiable price hikes should not be passed on to the people. Therefore, the proposed petition for the lifting of the TRO is not consistent with the public interest,” he said.
“The electric power industry is imbued with public interest. Public interest dictates that electric service be provided continuously and without unjustified interruption,” Coloma said.
The Palace official also said the government will not allow Meralco to enforce any brownouts if its reason is unjustifiable.
“Unjustifiable price hikes will not be tolerated,” Coloma said.
“Hindi papayag ang pamahalaan na maganap ang mga kaganapang iyan na wala namang katwiran dahil ang tungkulin ng pamahalaan ay pangalagaan ang kapakanan ng mga mamamayan [The government will not allow it if there is no justifiable cause because it is the duty of the government to ensure the welfare of its citizens],” he said.
“Ang mahalaga dito ay yung pagkakaroon ng patuloy na serbisyo sa elektrisidad dahil ito ay kailangan ng mga tahanan, negosyo at kalakal. Kailangan ito sa maayos na daloy ng kabuhayan ng mga mamamayan [What is important here is the continuity of electricity services because it is needed by households, businesses and trade. It is needed to ensure efficiency among the people],” he added.
Coloma also reminded the power players of their corporate social responsibility (CSR).
“Hindi lang naman gobyerno ang merong accountability sa ating mga mamamayan. ‘Yun ding mga negosyo that are imbued with public interests also have public accountability [It is not only the government which has an accountability to its citizens. Even businesses that are imbued with public interest also have public accountability],” he said.
“Hindi naman kailangan humantong sa takutan. Sa maayos na demokrasya, katwiran ang ginagamit at hindi pananakot [They don’t need to threaten. In a democracy, justification is needed and not intimidation],” he said.
Coloma, meanwhile, said the Palace is not meddling with the investigation of the tripartite committee on the power rate hike.
“Of course, we are not interfering because we would like these investigations to proceed without undue influence. Our interest is in the outcome, and this is why I have quoted what the President has said in the recent past that he would really want to know what actually transpired,” Coloma said.
“The Department of Energy and the Department of Justice are pursuing their parallel investigations without any interference from the Office of the President or from any other office, because we want an objective and impartial determination of the facts, so that the proper conclusions may be reached and that these conclusions will serve the public interest,” he said.
“Our position has always been to base inquiries and investigations on concrete facts and on evidence, so there is no partiality or there is no preconceived notion or premature conclusion getting into the equation,” he added. source
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