Power consumers and green energy advocates questioned the 20 megawatt power supply agreement (PSA) between Negros Electric Power Corporation (NEPC) and Aboitiz Power following their violation of the requirement to publicize all information regarding their competitive selection process (CSP), including how the PSA was reached and how it would affect costs of electricity for consumers.
“We ask NEPC and Aboitiz Power – what are you hiding from the public? What is stopping you from meeting the basic requirement of transparency?,” said Atty. Luke Espiritu, President of the Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP). “If you continue to deny the public all relevant information regarding the PSA, including how your agreement was reached, how it will affect the costs of electricity, and ultimately how it will affect consumers, then it is only just and right that your PSA be declared null and void. Contracts imbued with public interest cannot be veiled in secrecy. Only colluding criminals do that.”
Consumers expressed concerns towards corporations’ lack of transparency amid on-going issues centering on the Philippine government’s own corruption.
“When contracts allowing corporations to profit from people’s basic needs, including electricity, are actively withheld from the public’s eye, that puts into question the integrity of these corporations,” said Bishop Gerry Alminaza of the Diocese of San Carlos in Negros and the Laudato si’ Convergence. “The NEPC and Aboitiz contract is a failure of transparency. As we have seen in the Philippine government, the willful neglect of transparency is the first stage of corruption, which endangers the lives of regular Filipinos. Corruption caused our failure to adapt against rains and floods, as seen by the lives taken and destruction caused by typhoon Tino and super typhoon Uwan. Corruption in the power industry makes use of expensive and dirty energy that will worsen storms in years to come, while power corporations collude to plunder what little earnings we may have in favor of their wealth. The lack of transparency is further proof of that corruption.”
On top of the issue of transparency, the contract between NEPC and Aboitiz Power will source its energy from Therma Visayas Inc. (TVI) plant, which consumers and green energy advocates have criticized for perpetuating costly and climate-destructive electricity by using coal.
“The agreement between NEPC and Aboitiz is a violation of consumers’ rights on multiple fronts. Its contracted use of TVI’s coal facilities is a violation of our right to clean, safe, and affordable energy, because coal is one of the costliest sources of power and it actively exacerbates the climate crisis, from which we are one of the most vulnerable. It violates our right to secure energy, given that coal has been the primary culprit for power outages and unplanned shutdowns in previous years. And now it violates our right to transparency and freedom of information by way of these two corporations’ concealment of relevant details in their PSA. With corruption present in both government and private institutions, it is their responsibility to root out any inkling of secrecy and collusion, and to uphold transparency and the public’s best interests,” said Atty. Espiritu.
“Matapos bagsakan ng mga matitinding bagyo ang Negros, na iniwan ang mga komunidad namin sa kadiliman at walang kuryente, ang tuluyang paggamit ng fossil fuel ay insulto sa aming kapakanan. Walang lugar sa ating industriya ng kuryente ang nakamamatay na fossil fuels. Mas lalong walang lugar sa ating mga industriya at pampublikong serbisyo ang sabwatan at pagtatago ng katotohanan mula sa mga korporasyon ng kuryente. Nananawagan kaming mga Negrosanon sa malinis at murang kuryente mula sa mga korporasyong hindi takot sa tapat na paglilingkod,” said Rustico Ano of Konsyumer Negros.
