Survival sessions
Am in Toledo City in Cebu, at the People’s Development Academy. Fr. Paking Silva has invited me to attend a three-day workshop for GMs, the general managers of electric cooperatives.
He welcomed the 56 GMs to what he dramatically calls “survival sessions.” Majority of them represent the best ECs, those rated “A plus” by the National Electrification Authority. This means that their systems loss is single digit or at least below the 14 per cent allowable ceiling, their collection efficiency is 100 per cent, and their governance meets set standards.
And yet even the best of the ECs feel a sense of unease and uncertainty. The provisions of the EPIRA law have introduced new challenges to them, and there is a shared realization that they cannot operate on the basis of ”business as usual.”
Take CEBECO 2, which sells 64 million pesos worth of electricity per month. Under the provisions of EPIRA, its bigger customers can enter into direct contracts with NPC or private generation companies. These represent 25% of its revenue. In another EC, the “big loads” constitute 35% of its sales.
Eventually, if all the big loads exercise their option to buy directly from the generation companies, the ECs will be left with what we call in Pilipino “natirang pinagpilian.”
Another challenge comes from the large private distribution companies who have organized new corporations to buy out the profitable ECs, which is also an option authorized under EPIRA.
Still another challenge is the campaign by some LGUs and the Cooperative Development Authority to convert ECs into stock cooperatives and register with the CDA, even without conducting a referendum of the member-consumers. In some cases, the Board of Directors vote to register with the CDA as a way of avoiding any audit by NEA. The CDA accommodates their immediate registration, while giving them two years or more to convert into stock coops, against the provisions of the law.
I was surprised to hear from majority of the GMs of the better ECs that they suffered losses after the implementation of the policy of “unbundling” the rates. Unbundling simply means that the charges should be itemized so that the customers know what they are paying for. It should not result in a higher or lower price; in technical language, it should be “revenue neutral.”
But it turns out that the newly established ERC or Energy Regulatory Commission, due to ignorance or overzealousness, combined the unbundling with a reduction of rates, and even reversed those rates authorized by the former ERB or Energy Regulatory Board. It also asked the ECs not to formally appeal its decisions to the courts, which they did; but then denied all motions for reconsideration.
Fr. Paking can be very passionate when he sees unfair policies and practices affecting the ECs, and he was in a fighting mood. “But let’s not talk about the enemies of the coops and what they are doing,” he said. “Let’s ask ourselves what strength we have to fight for our survival.”
I told him his words reminded me of Sun Tzu” “Two armies meet in battle. One wins, the other loses. The one wins because of its strength. The other loses because of its weakness.”
As often happens in these free-wheeling sessions, there was an unexpected shift in mood. He flashed his favorite clippings on “happiness” and we spent a bit of time discussing the proposition that only “happy warriors” can win.
We started with the report in the Inquirer on Bhutan and its royal decree: “Thou shalt make our people happy.” The King of Bhutan promoted the notion of Gross National Happiness (GNH) as directly proportional to Gross National Production (GNP), and that “happy people are productive.”
There was much good-natured teasing about the claim in another clipping that people who are above 65 are happier than those who are younger, and that those who are married are happier than those who are unmarried.
Fr. Paking claimed that by those standards, he was happier than all of us, since he is the only one above 65. But then the GMs pointed out that though I am only 64, I am married, while he is not. So who is happier?
A bit more seriously, I cited Daniel Dennett’s statement about the secret of deep and long-term happiness: “Devote yourself to a cause that is bigger than yourself, and which develops your potential as you pursue it.”
