Transcript of interview with Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile
at Kapihan sa Manila

Q: I think you are the author of the EPIRA?

SP: No, I am not the author of the old EPIRA. I voted against EPIRA but I am now trying to revise it to make this more palatable to consumers. Q: I think what is in the mind of most consumers now is why the Meralco electric rates up again? SP: Well, there are several reasons for that. The fuel cost is an important consideration. You cannot have electricity unless you generate it and to generate it you have to use coal, crude, natural gas, liquefied gas, geothermal, hydropower, wind power -- whatever is your generating instrument. But by large, dito sa bayan natin, ang ginagamit to produce electricity is for sale fuel kaya variable yan. Ngayon kung minsan, pino-postpone nila yung mga ibang charges in order not to make it too hard for the consumers kung sabay-sabay. Kaya that is one reason katulad ng refund. They have to correct that over a long period of time. Yan ang mga rason. I do not know the actual reason why the ERC has increased the rate of Meralco at this time. I am not sure.

Q: As far as you know, is there any way that the increase in rate can be prevented or even lowered?

SP: Realistically speaking, at this time under the present law, it is very difficult for the government and for anybody for that matter to control the fluctuation in the price of electricity. Not one, even the Congress or the Senate, I am talking of the Senate because there's another house which will also make an active part on this and that is the House of Representatives. But in the Senate, we passed the amendment to the EPIRA. We're going to pass it on Third Reading. We've finished the work up to Second Reading. What is the impact of this? We're going to disallow the passing of burden coming from the stranded debt and stranded cost of the National Power Corporation and all the private distribution utilities. In other words, kung nagkamali sila sa kanilang mga kontarata at bumili sila ng mahal na kuryente, at ngayon ay bumagsak na ang presyo ng kuryente at meron silang lugi , problema nila 'yun. Papasanin nila 'yun. The government will have to answer for its error of judgment in contracting high-priced electricity from its independent power producers. By the same token, the private distributor if they contracted high-priced electricity and the demand for such did not materialize that they could not sell all their contracted capacities, then they just have to be like any other business: they either have to take a loss or make a profit. 'Yun ang aming theory dyan. Secondly, we are putting a cap on the systems losses of all of these operators. Pangatlo, we are advancing or hastening sa tagalog -- minamadali namin na pumasok yung tinatawag na open access. Ano yung open access? Ang ibig sabihin ng open access, na yung mga malalaking kumunsumo ng kuryente ay pwede na makipag- kontrata sa mga electric generators hindi dun sa distribution companies or TRANSCO, kung di yung mga nag po-produce ng elektrisidad. Kagaya ng First Gas, Aboitiz, kagaya ng Second Power..ganun. At yung National Power din at diretso na i-connect sila sa kanilang planta at magbabayad lang sila ng taripa sa National Grid Corporation or TRANSCO , based on approved rate ng ERC at ganoon din sa distribution utility na may alambre dun sa area na kinalalagyan ng mid-user sapagkat kailangan yung alambre noong distributor na yon para dumating yung elektrisidad doon sa kanyang planta. Para ba yong kumokontrata ka ng bigas sa isang gilingan ng bigas at umaarkila ka rin ng trak at gagamitin mo yung highway para dumating yung bigas doon sa iyong tindahan. Yon ang open access. Bakit gagawin yan? Para sa ganoon magalit yung mga excess capacity. Ngayon ang balita ko medyo lumiliit na yung excess capacity natin at baka darating ang panahon kung hindi kikilos ang gobyerno at walang additional capacities na itatayo, we might experience again certain outages. Another effort of the Senate to lower the cost of electricity dito e tatanggalin namin yung VAT sa distribution companies. Ngayon yung mga distribution companies kagaya ng Meralco, Sepalco sa Cagayan de Oro, Visayan Electric sa Cebu at yung mga iba pa na distributors sa malalaking lugar sa Pilipinas, sa malalaking lungsod ay nagbabayad sila ng VAT sa kinokolektang renta ng mga alambre. Sabi namin hindi dapat yan sapagkat public utility yan. Public service yan. Hindi dapat gagamitin ng gobyerno na magiging source o panggagalingan ng income ng gobyerno yung mga yan kagaya ng tubig. Noong araw, ang ginagawa natin sa mga public services na kagaya ng tubig, transportasyon at ganun din sa elektrisidad, telepono at iba pa kahit na planta ng yelo ay pinapatawan ng tinatawag na franchise tax - 3 percent. Pero tinanggal iyon sapagkat gusto ng gobyerno na gagamitin itong mga servicio social na ito, public service, serbisyo publiko na source of revenue. Hindi dapat 'yon sapagkat nagbabayad na yung mga consumers ng buwis, papatawan mo pa sila ng buwis doon sa ginagamit nilang serbisyo publiko na dapat gagawin ng gobyerno, e sobra-sobra na ang buwis ng taong-bayan. Kaya nagpanukala ako ngayon ng batas na tatanggalin ko yung VAT sa distribution utilities, 12 % 'yon ngayon. Magbabayad na lang sila ng 3 percent. So makakamenos ng 9 percent. Ginawa ko na sa TRANSCO yung transmission wire, yung pinakamalaking transmission wire sa kuryente. Nung ginawa ko yung prangkisa ng National Grid Corporation, binalik ko yung sistema na they will only pay a franchise tax of 3 percent. So hopefully, this will pass. Walang kokontra dyan sa panukalang batas na yan. Ipapasa namin yan. At least sigurado na yung 9 percent magkaroon ng savings ang mga consumer ng electricity. Lastly, I also filed a bill. Alam mo ang gobyerno, kasosyo sa natural gas natin sa Malampaya. Sa ibang bansa, yang mga ganyang local sources of power ay hindi nila ginagamit na source of revenue. Yung ginagamit sa loob ng bansa na indigenous na tinatawag na orihinal na source of power ay nagiging libre sa taong bayan at hindi pinapatawan ng presyo ng gobyerno. Pero dito, iba. May share ang gobyerno, mas malaki pa kung ang gagamitin na mag po-produce ng elektrisidad ay yung nasa Malampaya, mas mahal yun kesa sa presyo ng kuryente na ang gagamitin na fuel ay imported crude or imported natural gas. I think that is unjust. Kaya sabi ko, tama na at tanggalin natin ang sistema na yan at baguhin ang ganyang panukala na ginawa ko rin. Pag nangyari yan, palagay ko maibababa natin ang presyo ng kuryente dito at least Php 1.00 per kilowatt hour

Q: Yung hydroelectric at geothermal, indigenous power sources o binubuwisan ba yan?

SP: Yung hydroelectric, wala yatang royalty. Pero dun sa geothermal, alam ko parang meron. Pero yun ang gagawin ko at sinasabi ko sa batas na ginagawa ko na pini-prisinta ko sa Senado, kung ano man ang kikitain ng contractor ,yung kabuuan ng pinagbilhan ng mga natural gas halimbawa yun galing sa Malampaya, tatanggalin ko doon yung cost of recovery na tinatawag. Meron doon cost of recovery , iyon ay kukunin mo muna yung yearly returns dun sa investment na ginawa at pati yung cost of operations at repairs. Yun ang cost of recovery. Yung maiiwan, paghahatian ng gobyerno at contractor. 60% sa gobyerno at 40% sa contractor. Doon sa 60, meron mga charges yun. Pag natanggal na lahat ng mga charges na yun, may maiiwan doon na free. Sabi ko itong free amount na ito, dapat gamitin ito ng ERC upang ibaba yung presyo ng kuryente sa bansa per kilowatt hour.

Q: Yung take or pay capacity, the distributor, the consumer-used the electricity- generated, kung hindi man magamit ay binabayaran pa rin.

SP: Yun ang tinatawag na stranded contract cost. Kaya tinanggal na namin yun sa amendment sa EPIRA.

Q: Ibig sabihin ay bababa ang kuryente?

SP: Kung ma-aprubahan lahat ito, bababa at sigurado ako na bababa. Hindi natin alam kung anong gagawin sa House of Representatives.

Q: Sir, doon po sa stranded cost, obtainable ang position and incentives sa mga nagtatayo ng power plants dahil nag de-deteriorate na yung ating excess capacity, ano ngayon ang incentive sa mga existing power branches?

SP: Nandoon pa rin yun. That's the principle of take or pay. But, the negotiators of the government must be very careful in seeing to it that the price of electricity that they will contract is not bloated to the detriment of the people. Take or pay--it could be that your price is X rather than Y. Eh, pag Y at sobra naman yung margin na binigay mo doon sa kumuntrata ng elektrisidad na pinagbibili sa'yo, problema mo yun as negotiator who will agree to high cost of electricity.

Q: Yun income tax ng Meralco, retirement pay and other extended benefits na pina-pass on sa consumer..

SP: That will no longer be passed on because of the new proposal of 3 % franchise tax only. All that Meralco will pass on to the public will be in lieu of all taxes so that they cannot pass on their taxes and now it's the function of the ERC to see to it that the rate of return to Meralco is reasonable. Hindi yung kung gusto lang nila na 16 % or 20 % ang rate of return--that will be unreasonable given the rate of return on investment in the country today.

Q: Yung rate of return, ngayon RORB. Based on assets.

SP: WACC sila ngayon. Weighted-average cost of capital sila ngayon. Hindi na RORB. Hindi na return on rate-base kung hindi weighted-average cost of capital ang ginagamit nila na formula.

Q: Meron silang sinasabing performance-based? Approve ba kayo doon? E kasi its complicated even the regulation will have a hard time computing what is the fair return.

SP: Performance-based rate methodology. Ako I'm just a simple-minded lawyer, I'm not an economist but I would think that the regulators must be conscious of the fact that their duty is to give a fair return to the operators like the generators, distributors and the transmission companies and, at the same time, protect the interests of the consumers. That's their function. You have to balance this. Binago din namin yung qualifications ng mga regulators, yung members ng ERC. They have to be knowledgeable about the power industry. We require that the member must be an economist, must be good in finance. Si Senator Defensor-Santiago ang nag-propose ng amendment na yon.

Q: Baka ang amendments sa batas na yan ay maka-discourage ng pagpasok ng mga foreign investors sa power plant business? Are you in favor of putting up nuclear power plants in the country?

SP: I am in favor of reviving the nuclear power plant. We spent almost $3 billion to pay for that plant and yet it does not a benefit to the country. I dare to say that it was a mistake to decommission that plant. They say that's an earthquake belt, until now I have not heard, how many years na tayo, wala namang earthquake dyan sa lugar na yon. The people who selected that are just as well-intentioned as anyone of us. They have studied the engineering requirement of the plant and that's why that was selected rather than anywhere else. The selection of the place is not arbitrary. It was a well-thought out place to put up a nuclear plant. But coming to the thrust of your question, tatanggalin natin yung stranded cost, yung stranded debt. Meron bang mga investors na pupunta dito? Kapag kikita sila, pupunta sila dito. If there's a market to that product and we agreed to that price. Yun lang naman yan e. But what we are saying in removing all of those items in the present law is yung mga sobra na presyo ng kuryente na pinasukan ng gobyerno sapagkat nataranta sila dahil sa brownout e tama na, huwag na ipapasa sa taong-bayan ang pagkakamali ng mga negotiators ng gobyerno.

Q: Senator, yung cross-ownership where EPIRA separated the generators, distributors and transmission but yung cross-ownership, Meralco, for instance, have sister companies that generate power?

SP: Yung cross-ownership hindi na namin ginalaw yon. Sapagkat kung gagagalawin mo yon, you will require these people to dispose. What we did for this particular market is that you cannot own more than 30 % of the demand. If you supply 30 % of the demand, you need 20 million kilowatts. You cannot buy from affiliated companies more than 50 % of the demand, in other words more than 50 % of your market share of that grid. So that you can use the other 50 % to buy cheaper power from the market in order that when you reach the electricity that you buy from your affiliated companies with those that you buy from the open market, you can lower the average cost of generated electricity that you will distribute in your grid. Instead of controlling ownership, maraming paraan sila para makalusot dyan.

Q: Does that mean the other distributors can put up their own generating plant?

SP: They can but they cannot go beyond 50 percent of their share of the market in their particular grid.

Q: So they can do the same thing?

SP: They can do that but they can only sell if they are in the distribution. I think there is distribution business in Cebu. In Cebu, they are limited to 30 percent of their market share of the Visayan grid. They cannot buy more than 50 percent of their share of the demand in that grid on their affiliated companies.

Q: Dito sa sharing sa Malampaya, there is a problem between the national government and the provincial government. How much are they supposed to get?

SP: It's currently in the Supreme Court. Pabayaan natin yon. May usapan ata ang national government at provincial government ng Palawan na doon sa share ng gobyerno, minus all the charges na paghahatian ng national government at provincial government ng Palawan, doon sa share ng Palawan ay gagawin muna nilang 50/50. In other words, ang national government will get 80 percent of the divisible part of the share of the country from Malampaya after charges and Palawan will get 20 percent until the Supreme Court will decide.

Q: Merong consumers' complaints yung kanilang electric bill, kapag pinasa nila yung unbundled costs, ang dami nilang charges na pinapasa sa consumers, halos lahat na ng expenses.

SP: Yan ang peculiarity nitong mga negosyo na ganito, public service sapagkat kung hindi mo ilalagay ang sinasabing franchise tax, lahat ng charges ng gobyerno ipapasa sa tao. Sumatotal ang magbabayad ng lahat ng planta, alambre, poste ,eh ang taong-bayan. They will still recover their investment but as far as other charges kagaya ng mga taxes sa real estate, nandoon na sa 3 percent yon. Direct tax yon sa distributor at transmission wire. Ang industriya ng kuryente nandito sa isang dulo yung gumagawa ng elektrisidad, yung elektrisidad dadaan yan sa malaking high-voltage wire na tinatawag natin na transmission wire, ang may-ari niyan ay tinatawag nating TRANSCO. Tapos pagdating sa dulo dadaan yon sa franchise distributor kagaya ng Meralco, Cepalco, Visayan Electric and it goes to the users, either household, commercial or industrial users. Ganyan ang sistema. Dito sa generation, there is no regulation. Competition yan kung sino ang makaka-produce ng elektrisidad na mas mura yun ang unang bibilin sapagkat ang utos ng batas, the first thing that must be sold to the public will be the electricity with the least cost.

Q: Nung dineklara ni dating Pangulong Marcos ng Martial Law, isa doon sa kanyang programa ay i-nationalize ang Meralco, taong-bayan ang may-ari. Doon sa ginagawa niyong pag-aaral sa mga existing laws ngayon lumalabas na Meralco lang ang pribado at sa labas ng Metro Manila katulad sa Cagayan puro kooperatiba ang may-ari ng distribution companies. Wala po bang paraan para mai-distribute na yung ownership-base ng Meralco?

SP: May prangkisa ang Meralco and Meralco is an authorized corporation with private stockholders so you cannot do that in a free market economy. You will be colliding with the Constitution.

Q: Bakit po sa probinsya ay puro kooperatiba?

SP: Sapagkat hindi sakop ng Meralco yung mga areas na yon. Nung in-adopt ni Pres. Marcos yung rural electrification, yun ang ginawang sistema. Ngayon if you are going to nationalize Meralco I don't think the government has the money to buy out Meralco and nationalize it. So that is an academic issue that we will leave aside for the mean time.

Q: Magkano na lang po ang magiging rate ng electricity?

SP: I don't have the exact figure but that's a big amount of tax. Imagine VAT, we VAT the generated electricity and you VAT the distribution and you VAT the transmission. Lets say 12 percent of how many billions of pesos so if you're consuming 1 kilowatt, lets say 7 or 8 pesos times 12 yon immediately sa VAT yon.

 Q: Sa Senate Bill 3147, PHP 1.42 per kilowatt hour ang royalty ng gobyerno?

SP: Dahil kung nga ang gagamitin na fuel to produce 1 kilowatt hour of electricity ay imported, I think the cost is about 27 centavos pero kung galing sa Malampaya is more than a peso, so four times.

Q: Kapag napirmahan na yung proposal niyo, masi-simplify na ang billing ng consumers?

SP: Oo, masi-simplify yon. Maraming mawawala doon sa unbundled billing.

Q: Nabanggit niyo na may balak kayong tanungin ang ERC kung ano ang basis nila para itaas ulit ang rate. Naisip nyo po ba mag-conduct ng hearing sa Senado?

SP: Hindi na sapagkat yan ay inutos namin na trabaho ng ERC. Actually, the role of the ERC is a delegate of the Congress to conduct hearings in cases like this before they can impose a higher burden to the people. If we are going to conduct a hearing then we are duplicating the work of the ERC. The law deligated that power to them.

Q: Kung pwede daw mapilit si Senator Lacson na mag-inhibit as chairman of Ethics Committee to inhibit itself para mapagbigyan yung minority members ng Senado?

SP: Alam mo, kahit na sa hukuman, sa Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, Regional Trial Courts, Municipal Courts, at ganun din sa Kamara ng Kongreso, either House or the Senate, inhibition is personal. Kung chinallenge ka ng sinuman na may interes na dapat ay hindi ka sumali doon sa pinag-uusapan na isyu doon sa committee na kung saan ikaw ay member, nasa iyo yun. It's a matter of personal responsibility and your assessment of yourself whether in that situation you can be impartial. You can maintain your impartiality to render justice to the respondents. It's a personal thing. Nobody can force anybody to inhibit himself. Now, when the issue of Philcomsat was before the Committee of Senator Gordon on Public Enterprises where I was a member of that Committee and it happened that my family is interested in Philcomsat, the people under investigation, through their lawyers, ask that I inhibit myself. I inhibited myself. But that was personal to me. The chairman and the members of the committee could not force me to inhibit myself. So nobody can force Senator Lacson, not even the Senate President, to inhibit himself.

Q: Dito sa forthcoming hearings sa Ethics Committee, sino ba talaga ang accuser dito--si Senaor Lacson o sino?

SP: Ang nagsampa ng charge kay Senator Villar ay si Senator Madrigal at pinaratangan ng accusation si Senator Villar. Ngayon, yung sinasabi nila na paratang ni Senator Lacson ay hindi tama sapagkat ang katotohanan diyan ay noong 2008 ay nakita ni Senator Lacson na may dalawang entrada doon sa budget na P200 Million doon sa C-5. Hindi niya inakusahan si Senator Villar; ang inaakusahan niya ay ang DPWH at ang Malacañang Budget Office, yung DBM. Kaya nong hearing, ini-raise ni Senator Lacson yan dun sa hearing mismo ng Finance Committee ng Senado at ang sumagot ay si Secretary Andaya ng DBM. Sabi niya ay yung P200 Million na nakalagay doon sa budget for 2008 ay inilagay ng Malacañang. Ngayon, may isa pang P200 Million for the same C-5; nung tinanong niya kung sinong naglagay doon ay sa tanda ko ay sinabi ni Secretary Andaya na hindi niya alam; ang alam niya ay yung nilagay ng Malacañang. Ako, bilang Chairman ng Senate Finance Committee at that time appointed by the majority, sinabi ko na that was an amendment of Senator Villar, yun ang nangyari. The name of Senator Villar came out only after I was asked who made the second P200 Million figure into the budget, and I said it was an amendment of Senator Villar. Inamin naman ni Senator Villar yun. That is not the one being investigated by the Senate Ethics Committee. There are other ethical allegations that are contained in the complaint of Senator Madrigal and those are the ones being investigated by the Senate Ethics Committee. So it is not correct to say that the Chairman, Senator Lacson, is the accuser and he should not be adjudged as prosecutor and judge at the same time.

Q: Comment on the different opinion of NEDA and Secretary Reyes about the fuel overprice.

SP: Alam mo, yan ay malalaman ngayon sapagkat kanina nung papunta ako rito, narining ko sa radio na may huwes sa Maynila na nag-issue ng order sa BIR at Bureau of Customs na bumuo ng isang composite task force para buksan ang mga libro ng mga oil companies dahil sabi nila may cartelization at dyan natin malalaman ang katotohanan kapag nangyari yan. Ngayon, incidentally, I am also filing an Anti-trust Law sa Senado, and I think this afternoon a committee report will be filed already because in its hearing, we already drafted the final version of the Anti-Trust Law that we will discuss and debate on, and hopefully that law will be passed. Talagang mayroon ng basehan upang madisiplina lahat ng negosyo sa Pilipinas hindi lamang ang langis, maging bigas, sabon, harina, o karne, isda, at kung anu-ano pa na magko-conclude ang mga negosyo para pataasin ang presyo ng produkto na ipinagbibili sa merkado. This law that I am talking about is going to be passed by the Senate. I do not know about the House; I cannot speak for the House. But we are doing all of these to put discipline into our market system para sa ganoon ay huwag na pahirapan ang mga consumers sa bansa natin.

Q: On pharmaceutical cartel and cement cartel

SP: They are going to be investigated. The penalties are very heavy. It's not a joke. If you are charged and you are found to be guilty of monopolization or attempt to monopolize or if you are engaged in conspiracy or agreement to manipulate prices, under this law that I drafted, you can suffer a heavy fine plus imprisonment for some time.

Q: In case of cement, all of the companies are owned by foreigners. Is there any way that that can be prevented?

SP: Well actually, if they are engaged in cement manufacture, they must own lands of quarries. And if they own lands of quarries, they must be 60/40: 60 Filipino and 40 percent foreigner. I do not know how they have tailored their corporate structure. In case of Symex, maybe if they separated their quarries from their factory plant that's something else. So we do not know, I cannot answer the question yet. We have to see their corporate structure.

Q: In case of pharmaceutical, the reason that we have a very high cause of medicine is because of cartelization.

SP: Pati yan. Pag napasa itong bagong batas na ito, sigurado alam na ng mga banyaga yan sapagkat dun sa kanilang mga bayan-bayan sa America ay mahigpit ang Anti-Trust Law nila. And this law is patterned after the Shermann Anti-Trust Act, the Robinson Pacman Act, and the Clinton Act of the US.

Q: So it means pharmaceutical and cement products will go down?

SP: Hopefully. Then we can control them because if they manipulate their price in order to attain one they call a"monopoly price", increase their market unreasonably, then with this law, just like the laws in England, the laws in France, the laws in the United States, and in other modern markets, they can go to jail, with a heavy penalties, plus'pag they're adjudged guilty, they might be required to pay back. And there's a mechanism that the "backpay" will go to the public.

Q: What about the prison term, sir? Sa Amerika, ang haba- haba ng prison term.

SP: Oo. At saka you can order them to break up their organization if they are really heavily cartelized, or they have monopolies and they control the market to the detriment of others who will come in. Marami yan. Halimbawa, because of your size. A newcomer wants to come in. And you cannot come in because you can drop your price in order to kill him. That's prohibited under this law. The purpose of this law is to foster a healthy competition in the Philippine market to serve both the profit viability of economic players and to protect the consumers.

Q: Sir, ano po ang comment nyo dun sa Oil Deregulation Law?

SP: Nag ko- kumpon- kumpon sila dahil nga may market leader. Pag yang market leader na iyan ay tinaas yung kanyang presyo, susunod lahat yung mga malilit na kumpanya. Pag binababa yan, bababa din sila. In effect, even without the agreement, with a consistent unity of action, you can spell a conspiracy between them.

Q: The increase in oil prices is something that we cannot understand. Hindi pa dumadating dito ang binibili nila, tumaas na ang presyo.

SP: Alam mo, hindi natin alam kung ano ang sinusunod ng mga oil companies na patakaran sa disposisyun ng kanilang inventories. Dalawa yan. Meron yung LIFO at saka FIFO. Yung LIFO- last in first out. Kung iyon ang huling binili mo, yan ang huling ipagbibili mo. O FIFO- first in first out. Yung unang binili mo, yun din ang unang ipagbili mo. We do not know how they treat their inventory. So, its very difficult for me to give you a definitive answer to your question. That's why, let us wait for the court to do its job. That is no longer a function of legislation. That is the function of the judicial system.

Q: NEDA said that fuel is overpriced by eight pesos, and the Energy Department is not doing anything about it.

SP: We have to bear in mind the Department of Energy. I do not know if they have police power. Deregulated na ang industrya na yan e. What is their source of power to stop them from selling or to stop them from adopting that price. The court now that will challenge them based on the existing Anti-Trust Law in the Revised Penal Code. We have an Anti-Trust Law pero kulang sa anghang yung batas na yun. Kailangang mapalakas. Kaya yun ang ginawa namin, yun ang ginawa ko. We cannot blame the executive most of the time because we have to follow due process. No person shall be deprived of life, liberty and property without due process of law. You cannot just say, I will closedown your outlet. Hindi pwede yun. We are not in a dictatorship system. We are a democratic republic.

Q: Comment on the opinions that oil deregulation law is faulty

SP: Yung dineregulate siya, kung natatandaan ninyo, there was a fund. Yung fund na yun ay nanggagaling din sa taong bayan. Ginagamit yun to subsidize certain sectors of the economy. Dahil hindi kaya ng kaban ng bayan na pondohan yun kaya sinabi nila, let bucket forces operate. Kaya yung nangyari, tinanggal yun, wala nang subsidy. In effect we were subsidizing fuel before. Ang mechanism niyan e kagaya sa Korea nang kaya nilang mag-subsidize because they are very affluent.

Q: What was the problem on export industry? Do you think that with your proposals, power rates will go down?

SP: When these proposals become law, hopefully they will reduce power rate and I am almost certain with that. They will reduce the per kilowatt hour cost of electricity.

Q: Is there a counterpart bill of the EPIRA law in the House?

SP: Wala pa. I will probably ask somebody to file a similar bill there once it is submitted to the Senate for debate.

Q: Since you assume the presidency of the Senate, what reforms have you instituted in terms of fiscal and personnel management and other reforms?

SP: Ang ginawa ko noong ako'y umupo, sabi ko sa kanila, magtrabaho tayo. At three o'clock, I open the session. And we have to be present, otherwise, we will be marked absent. That's why we were able to dispose all the bills pending. Halos wala na nga kami pinag-uusapan na mga bills. Pangalawa, lahat ng savings namin, or a great portion of it, binibigay namin sa mga emplyado. When I became Senate President, normally the Committee on Account of the Senate is handled by someone who is supposed to be close to the President. I changed the system, I decided to give it to someone who used to be in the Minority. Because I used to be a part of the Majority. It is better that members of the present Majority coming from the minority group would handle the money, the budget of the Senate, that is why I gave it to Senator Lacson. He is the one handling this. I must tell you that he is very meticulous in the usage of funds of the Senate. Third, I am going to abolish some of the unnecessary positions in the Senate, I do not want to touch the lower rank of the Senate because those people need their jobs. But in the higher ranks where there are people there holding very high positions but they are not doing any work for the Senate, I think it's unfair to the taxpayers of the country for these people to continue being employed, receiving their salaries and allowances without rendering effective and beneficial service to the nation. So I am having the positions reviewed and I will abolish all of these unnecessary positions. I requested all the committees to continue hearing all the bills; select the bills that they consider beneficial to the country and expose them to public hearings and report them out for debate in the plenary. Now, I am also reducing the number of organic employees of the Senate that are being detailed to individual senators. The senators are given budget for their personnel; they did not get personal from the rank and file of the Senate Proper because they also have assigned work to do. They must use their budget to employ the staff that they need to perform their work as senators. Yun ang ginagawa namin doon. Simple lang buhay ko dun. Ako dumadaan sa kalye, wala akong wang wang, maliban na lang kung pupunta ako sa ganitong mga okasyon. I ask for one motorcycle escort just to make sure that the traffic is a little bit easier so I can comply with my commitment. Even my number 3 plate--I never used it. I think it is time that we show our people that we are ready to live simply in order to serve them.

Q: How about senators who do not have complete staff but nevertheless collect allowances for the staff?

SP: Each senator is given a certain budget to use. If he can do his work without any staff, that is his responsibility. He can ask for realignment for his maintenance and operating expenses because he could be traveling around to do his job. He has no one to send around.

Q: The Minority is going to send the memorandum this afternoon but then sinasabi po ng Minority, they are already assailing the Majority na hindi magbabago ang membership ng Ethics committee.

SP: Ako, ang position ko personally there are 16 of us in the Majority but my personal position is that I am not in favor of acceding to the request of the Minority to recast the memberships of any committee of the Senate because the membership of this committee is a function of two groups--Minority and Majority. The Majority selects from their members the people that they want to put in these committees and we did that in case of Ethics committee. In the same manner that the minority selects their own representatives in the committees. The Minority, we do not interfere with the decision of the Minority. And the Minority cannot interfere with the Majority's decision. Now, I am not averse to their asking that the people they consider to be prejudiced to inhibit themselves. That is their prerogative but for us to tell us to change the membership of the committees, I will not agree to that even if I am not the Senate President.

Q: Rejected na yung request ng Minority?

SP: I do not know. I will have to present the memo to the majority. I'm not the Majority. I am just the elected President of the Senate representing the Majority.

Q: Your call and the call of the Majority Leader ay ceasefire muna sa bickering so that you can focus on the legislative agenda, baka hindi mangyayari yun.

SP: It's too bad, if that will happen. But we will see to it that our legislative agenda will not suffer.