Women & Children Leading the Fight to Keep

Mindanao’s Hydropower Resources in People’s Hands

How We Got Started Dr. Melchie Ambalong,

Mindanao Commission

on Women (MCW) Vice-

Chair, is also Chair

Emerita of the Lanao

Power Consumers

Federation (LAPOCOF)

She has been a power

sector reform advocate

even before the EPIRA

law was passed in 2001

Why it is a Women’s Issue

Women are the major users of energy

Our electricity bill accounts for nearly 15% of the

household budget so any increase in power rates

has an impact on our budget

Access to electricity is important to women’s

productive and reproductive roles so lack of

access exacerbates the burden on women

Women’s ability to participate and voice their

energy needs in decision-making at all levels of

the energy system is critical to any reform of the

power sector.

Mindanao women are breaking the silence

and asserting their right to be heard on

Mindanao’s vast energy resources

Starting with Agus Pulangi

The Agus Pulangi

Hydropower

Complex supplies

52% of Mindanao’s

electricity needs

Under the EPIRA

law, it was up for

privatization by 2011

The EPIRA Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) or

Republic Act 9136 passed on June 26, 2001 after

seven years of congressional debate and court cases

It has three main objectives: (1) to develop

indigenous resources; (2) to cut the high cost of

power in the Philippines; and (3) to privatize power

assets to pay off NAPOCOR’s debts

It requires state-owned utility National Power

Corporation (NAPOCOR) to break-up its vertically

integrated assets into smaller sub-sectors such as

generation, transmission, distribution and supply for

privatization

Selling NAPOCOR’s Assets

National Transmission

Corporation (TRANSCO) to

assume Napocor’s substation

and transmission assets

Private Sector Assets and

Liabilities Management

(PSALM) Corporation to

handle the privatization of

NAPOCOR’s assets and the

management of its liabilities

In 2001, two subsidiary companies were created:

What EPIRA Has Done

In 2008, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines

(NGCP), a private corporation, got the franchise to

manage, operate and maintain TRANSCO’s power

transmission function effectively privatizing the

country’s power transmission

As system operator of the power grid, NGCP has the sole

power to decide who gets electricity when and for how

much

PSALM has privatized more than 91% of all NAPOCOR

power plants yet the debt remains at US$16.7 Billion (as

of September 2011), more than the original debt of

US$16.4 Billion in 2001 before the passage of EPIRA

Environmental Charge

Section 34 of EPIRA provides that all power consumers

must pay an Environmental Charge of P0.0025 per

kilowatt hour monthly to be used solely for watershed

rehabilitation and management

Collections and disbursements as of March 31, 2010:

Total Collection P 775,249,304.76

Availments P 338,928,492.72

Balance P 436,320,812.04

Lanao-Agus Reforestation

Total Area: 194,160 hectares

Forested: 151,094 hectares

Without Forest Cover:

43,066 hectares

NAPOCOR reforestation

from 1992-present: 2,004

hectares only

MARAWI

CITY

ILIGAN

CITY

Lanao del

Sur

Lanao del

Norte

Pulangi Reforestation

Total Area: 1.8 M hectares,

second largest in the

country

Watershed Reservation:

309,750 hectares

Without Forest Cover:

192,368 hectares or 60% is

devoid of trees

Reforested as of 2006: 500

hectares only

Where do the hundreds of millions of

pesos collected as “environmental

charge” for reforestation go?

Who is responsible

and accountable for it?

Impact on Power Rates

June 2001

Average Retail Price

March 2011

Average Retail Price

Luzon P 5.32/Kwh Luzon P 9.84/Kwh

Visayas P 5.21/Kwh Visayas P 8.19/Kwh

Mindanao P 3.52/Kwh Mindanao P 6.70/Kwh

EPIRA is an

Epic Failure It did not reduce power costs.

Privatization of NAPOCOR’s assets

did not pay off its debt, but

increased it.

Power capacity was not increased,

there are more brownouts instead.

Agus River, 36.5 km Pulangi River, 320 km

And yet the sale goes on...

The People of Mindanao

have clearly spoken.

House Bill No. 7106 filed by

Iligan City, Lanao del Norte

Rep. Vicente Varf Belmonte

excluding Agus Pulangi

Hydropower Complex from

privatization

House Resolution No. 107

deferring the sale of Agus

Pulangi Hydropower

Complex pending review of

EPIRA

House Initiatives

Senate Bill No. 3182 filed by

Senator Gregorio Honasan II

excluding Agus Pulangi

Hydropower Complex from

privatization

Senate President Juan

Ponce Enrile has pushed for

the review of EPIRA

Senate Initiatives

Multi-Sectoral Opposition

Lanao Power Consumers Federation

Mindanao Commission on Women

Confederation of Mindanao Governors and Mayors

Mindanao Congressional Bloc

Various local government units in Mindanao

Association of Mindanao Rural Electric Coops

Mindanao Chambers of Commerce

Regional Development Councils

Freedom from Debt Coalition

NAPOCOR Employees Association

We Oppose Privatization

Because Agus Pulangi Hydropower Complex

(APHC), which is the source of more than half of

Mindanao’s electricity needs, keeps our cost of

power relatively low and cheaper than the rest of

the country

Because passing on ownership of APHC to

private hands will be giving the new private

sector owner excessive market power controlling

51% of Mindanao market and power grid (a

violation of EPIRA)

We Oppose Privatization

Because electricity is a public utility and a basic

need, it should not be traded like any other

commodity

Because private power costs more, at least 20%

more

Because in a privatized electricity system, the

price of electricity is driven up by the added

costs of profits, higher returns for the banks that

finance private power projects and the fees of

many consultants and brokers

We Oppose Privatization

Because Agus River and Pulangi River, which

come from Lake Lanao, are part of the ancestral

domain of Mindanao’s indigenous peoples

notably the Maranao, the Pulangiyon Manobo,

and the Higa-unon

Because selling this ancestral domain to the

highest bidder will stand in the way of a peaceful

settlement between the GRP and the MILF

Because Mindanao’s vast hydropower resource

is our children’s heritage, it should not belong to

one private owner

We Oppose Privatization

Because privately-owned electrical utilities have

a poor track record in terms of undertaking

environmentally-responsible initiatives unless

there is a lot of money to be made so it is a

climate crisis risk

Because the power industry structure in the

Philippines is geared towards

monopoly/oligopoly rather than competition

Because market demand is too small in Mindanao

for there to be enough players to compete in a

level playing field

We do not want to sell the

Agus Pulangi Hydropower

Complex because it is our

people’s treasure.

It keeps our power cost low

and earns money

for the government.

Agus Pulangi is NOT

Losing It is a NET EARNER

The P15 B reported

losses are actually

paper losses

(representing

depreciation and

amortization)

It actually subsidizes

the payment for

onerous IPP

contracts from the

past administration

If properly maintained and when

IPP contracts of losing assets

expire, it is projected to increase

more than four times

its current net earnings

PNoy’s Response to Power Crisis:

Pay more or live with

brownouts!

Because PNoy

insists on privatizing

Agus Pulangi, the

people will “buy” the

power complex

collectively.

We will “buy” it so

that it will be owned

by the people now

and in the future.

If there are 21 million people in Mindanao and

every man, woman, and child pledges at least

P50, we can raise at least P1 Billion in pledges

Why PIPOL’S POWER?

To remind PNoy who his real boss

is -- the very people who toppled a

dictator and installed the country’s

first woman president, his mother

Power -- political and electrical --

must remain in people’s hands

From “outage” to “outrage” --

collective action will change the

people’s feeling of powerlessness

to being powerful

Women and Children Lead PIPOL’S POWER

Here’s how you

can join us...

Set up a Pipol’s

Power Pledging

Station in your

community.

Organize a

forum to make

people aware of

the issues.

Both Houses of Congress (Senate & HoR)

Provincial/City/Municipal/Barangay

Councils

Lobby Your Representatives

to Change the Law

Join Our Online Campaign

http://pipolspower.blogspot.com/

http://www.facebook.com/pipolspowerproject

https://twitter.com/PipolsPower

Let’s show PNoy

Mindanao’s Power.

Let’s show PNoy

who’s the boss.

Now na!

Before he delivers his State of the Nation

Address (SONA) on July 23, 2012...