Press statement of Senator Loren Legarda

ON No to yearly rate hikes by electric distributors

The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) must thoroughly scrutinize the distribution rate increases applied for by power distribution utilities to determine whether they are justified and whether they would unduly burden Filipino consumers.

Reports show that Meralco had posted an increase in its distribution revenues by 10.4 percent in the first half of the current year precisely because of a similar rate adjustment that had been approved by the ERC last April. But what's troubling is that Meralco has petitioned anew the ERC for a distribution rate increase of 26.9 centavos per kilowatt hour for regulatory year 2010.

Just because electric distributors can increase their rates each year under a performance-based regulation (PBR) scheme doesn't mean that the ERC must approve any and all application for rate increases. The ERC must never lose track of its mandate of protecting consumers from unjustified rate hikes.

On Mulled buyback of Petron worth considering

Some government officials had expressed the position that the state should consider getting back control of Petron Corporation by buying back the shares it had sold to the private sector.

While this course of action may run against the privatization policy of the government, it may have been prompted by widespread perception that oil players in the country are engaged in cartelized pricing of fuel products like gasoline, diesel and LPG.

The thinking is that if governments get back control of Petron, it would be able to determine with certainty the fair market pricing of oil products, thereby serving as a check against the unconscionable jacking up of profit margin by some private oil firms.

Government must certainly look into this possibility of Petron, as the supplier of a third of the country's oil-based fuel needs, being put in a position to lower fuel pump prices by way of an honest-to-goodness market competition.

On 'Kiko' focuses attention anew on disaster risk reduction

The death of at least 22 Filipinos from typhoon Kiko and the destruction it wrought in Taiwan, including the collapse of a six-storey building there, underscored once again the need for all nations to conceptualize and put into effect disaster risk reduction measures.

The horrific collapse of the building proved anew the need for government authorities to strictly impose building regulation codes, as well as the selection of safe construction areas for structures such as schools, shopping malls, condominiums and other high-traffic buildings.

With climate change seen to intensify natural calamities, the relocation of people from geohazard zones is a must, while those in the construction sector must further strengthen structures like buildings, roads and bridges to ensure their being able to withstand the effects of the wrath of Mother Nature.