Greed and Betrayal
The Philippine Daily Inquirer
(May 10, 2000)
THE P500,000 scandal exposed by Rep."Renato Magtubo is the inevitable outcome when institutions with murky records of greed and betrayal of public trust cross paths.
One only has to scan thorough the archives of the Philippine Free Press to witness the venalities perpetrated in Congress since the late '40S. In the wake of anomalies swirling about them, our "honorable gentlemen" have forged on in their careers to the highest, offices to inflict even worse abuse upon the nation.
For decades, the National Power Corporation (NPC) has been hampered by inefficiency, mismanagement and corruption. The High cost of electric power we are paying now goes to amortizing graft and corruption that have gone into almost every facility and infrastructure built by the NPC. Now the Erap administration, reportedly under pressure from Japan and the Asian Development Bank, is desperate to rid itself of this white elephant and to lay its hand on funds that may come from its privatization.
Control of production and marketing of a most basic commodity as electricity is a dream opportunity for those who have the resources to invest, with profits guaranteed by law, but for the P5B (or is it over P1 Trillion) loan and the objection from some 16,000 employees and other onerous baggage's that hamstring this unfortunate institution. The same malevolent virus of greed bred in these two institutions again taints the Omnibus Power Bill recently passed by the House, of Representatives, making the NPC more palatable to prospective investors.
However, we must keep in mind that even now we are already paying for the NPC loan in our electric bills. When the Omnibus Power Bill finally passes legislation as the Senate is set on doing, the NPC can be privatized; electric power rates will go down; and investors with large electric power consumption will be attracted into the country like Amkor recently inaugurated by Erap.
The NPC loan? Present and future generations of gullible taxpayers will pay in additional taxes Congress will impose for the greed and ineptitude of the few who continue to savor the fruits of their treachery without remorse amid the, adulation of the country's high society.
E.P. DAKANAY JR.,
43 Baltazar St., Philamlife Village,
Pamplona, Las Piñas City