A coalition of 49 labor centers, federations and workers’
organizations to promote workers’ interest, the Nagkaisa today issued a
statement to give labor groups’ perspective on the fifth State of the
Nation Address (SONA) of President Benigno Simeon Aquino III tomorrow,
Monday, July 28th. Below is the coalition’s pre-SONA statement:
“Millions of Filipino workers and their families remains deprived of
the benefits of the inclusive growth they deserve from the so-called
high Philippine economic growth they helped built since 2010. It is
shameful that the President in Benigno Simeon Aquino III they elected in
power four years ago, has tactfully failed them.
With around 700 days left in office, there are bold indications that
the man in Pnoythey thought could lead them out of vicious pit of
poverty and help them cope with the rising prices of commodities caused
by a liberalizing economy is, in fact, slowly abandoning the hope of the
working people.
Siding with employers’ interest, President Aquino deliberately
refused to break the cycle of poverty by freeing up a large segment of
25 million contractual workers when he turned down outright the Nagkaisa
plead to certify the pending Security of Tenure (SOT) bill designed to
responsibly eliminate the very backward contractualization work scheme
imposed by the business elites.
Aquino is just staring at workers being mangled by a very exorbitant
and world class electricity rates controlled by a monopsony cartel of a
very few families despite persistent advice from Nagkaisa to act, form
and lead a multi-agency, multi-sectoral task force that will figure out
within two-year period a secure power supply and a competitive
electricity rate.
The stakes just get higher with the ominous crisis in power supply.The
hiatus is so real that it would reckon businesses to make significant
retrenchments of workers and render the country uncompetitive and
unattractive to investments that are necessary to create more new jobs.
The absence of a national strategic plan on power will surely force
the state to make knee-jerk but expensive fixes that, in the end,
workers, especially minimum wage earners, would have to pay more from
their take home pay—reminiscent of the same blunder committed by his
mother the late President Cory Aquino.
Aquino is doing nothing while watching workers profusely bleed from
the day-to-day stab of recent man-made and phenomenal sudden price
increase of rice, garlic and ginger.
Without any significant increase in wages amid hikes in prices and
costs of other basic commodities and services during his tenure, he has,
in fact,coldly insulted the workers by issuing an executive order that
would raise by P10,000 the disability and burial benefits of workers the
moment concerned government agencies accrue excess funds.
He has reneged on his promise to “get back” a month later with
presidential response on important laborp olicy issues raised by
Nagkaisa labor leaders he invited to a pre-labor day breakfast dialogue
inside Malacanang Palace on April 30th.
In the light of the controversial discovery of the Disbursement
Allocation Program DAP), Mr. Aquino and cohorts should account for every
single centavo in the billions of pesos of workers’ money in the scheme.The
Nagkaisa demand Mr. Aquino to prove that the people’s money was not
siphoned off to ghost projects and illusory expenditures as payoff for
political patronage.
Mr. Aquino has squandered all opportunities to make a difference in
the lives of workers especially those of the rank-and-file. He has
failed to commiserate with the warm bodies that broke their back in
earning a living while building the economy. The Nagkaisa has performed
its critical part in bringing the case to the table. Now, it cannot
entirely put the blame on workers who will claim their piece of social
justice on the streets.
Sunday, July 27, 2014
Thursday, July 24, 2014
TUCP presses government to enter into power generation
TUCP, iminumungkahing pasukin na ng gobyerno ang sektor ng paglikha ng kuryente
Aired July 23, 2014, GMA News State of the Nation Jessica Soho 9:00 PM (PHL Time) on GMA News TV Channel 11
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Power crisis may shut down businesses, TUCP fears
AS the power situation in Luzon remains tight, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) warned that the power crisis may force businesses to shut down.
The group is scheduled to meet on Wednesday with various business and labor groups to draw up measures amid adverse ramifications of the energy problem on employment and business stability.
“We have no national strategy to address the looming power crisis. So, the TUCP, other labor groups, consumer and business organizations will meet on Wednesday with the aim of figuring out a recommendation to the government on how to minimize the impact of a full-blown power crisis precluded by prolonged rotational brownouts currently prevailing in many key areas Luzon and in Mindanao,” TUCP Executive Director Louie Corral said on Monday.
The TUCP “wants the government to be prepared when the perfect storm caused by lack of power policy hits the country because it’s the workers who’ll be whipped hard when the storm comes,” Corral added.
Even before Typhoon Glenda hit the country last week, he said, his group had urged Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla to declare a national emergency on power “so that collectively we can come up with the right solutions.”
Petilla recommended the declaration to Malacanang on Monday.
“The fate of all industry roadmaps, particularly the employment targets, is dependent on how we address the power crisis right now.
We need a truthful picture of our future power supply so that we can come up with clear strategies and coping mechanisms and avert companies shutting down and retrenchments of workers. A flawed power industry roadmap will be fatal to the economy. We cannot afford to hinge on the day-to-day weather predicament the fate of the employment of millions of workers,” Corral said.
“Without sufficient and affordable power, there will be no investors and there will be no new jobs,” he added.
The TUCP urged the government to temporarily return to power generation business “until there is sufficient supply to restore business confidence, a return to tariff-setting based on 12 percent cap return-on-rate-base (RORB) to bring down the electricity prices to make the country regionally competitive.”
The group noted that the Philippines has one of the highest electricity rates in the world, which makes the country unattractive to new investments that create quality jobs. This, it said, resulted in static unemployment of 3.046 million in April 2013 and 2.924 million in April 2014.
If the rotating brownouts being imposed by the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) continues, the TUCP said it is possible that thousands of employees may lose their jobs.
Meralco also on Monday said electricity would have been fully restored in Metro Manila on Sunday but that some areas in nearby provinces will continue to be without power because distribution lines damaged by Typhoon Glenda had not been fixed.
Joe Zaldarriaga, Meralco spokesman, said the company has doubled efforts to restore power in their franchise area.
Also as of Monday, 4.99 percent of the distribution utility’s franchise still had no electricity.
“We hope to close the gap [for Metro Manila] within today. For the franchise area, we cannot say, but we have an internal deadline,” Zaldarriaga told reporters.
He said they are fixing transmission lines in the provinces of Laguna, Cavite, Batangas and Quezon but that it will take time to fully restore power in these provinces.
“These are isolated areas [where] we lost supply because we still have to re-string the lines and fix our transformers after they were devastated by the typhoon,” Zaldarriaga added.
Petilla said the power deficit has narrowed down after the 250-megawatt unit of Santa Rita plant kicked in. The energy situation is expected to improve when four power plants will start feeding the Luzon grid within the week.
These plants are San Lorenzo, Pagbilao 1 and 2, Calaca and BacMan. - Manila Times
The group is scheduled to meet on Wednesday with various business and labor groups to draw up measures amid adverse ramifications of the energy problem on employment and business stability.
“We have no national strategy to address the looming power crisis. So, the TUCP, other labor groups, consumer and business organizations will meet on Wednesday with the aim of figuring out a recommendation to the government on how to minimize the impact of a full-blown power crisis precluded by prolonged rotational brownouts currently prevailing in many key areas Luzon and in Mindanao,” TUCP Executive Director Louie Corral said on Monday.
The TUCP “wants the government to be prepared when the perfect storm caused by lack of power policy hits the country because it’s the workers who’ll be whipped hard when the storm comes,” Corral added.
Even before Typhoon Glenda hit the country last week, he said, his group had urged Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla to declare a national emergency on power “so that collectively we can come up with the right solutions.”
Petilla recommended the declaration to Malacanang on Monday.
“The fate of all industry roadmaps, particularly the employment targets, is dependent on how we address the power crisis right now.
We need a truthful picture of our future power supply so that we can come up with clear strategies and coping mechanisms and avert companies shutting down and retrenchments of workers. A flawed power industry roadmap will be fatal to the economy. We cannot afford to hinge on the day-to-day weather predicament the fate of the employment of millions of workers,” Corral said.
“Without sufficient and affordable power, there will be no investors and there will be no new jobs,” he added.
The TUCP urged the government to temporarily return to power generation business “until there is sufficient supply to restore business confidence, a return to tariff-setting based on 12 percent cap return-on-rate-base (RORB) to bring down the electricity prices to make the country regionally competitive.”
The group noted that the Philippines has one of the highest electricity rates in the world, which makes the country unattractive to new investments that create quality jobs. This, it said, resulted in static unemployment of 3.046 million in April 2013 and 2.924 million in April 2014.
If the rotating brownouts being imposed by the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) continues, the TUCP said it is possible that thousands of employees may lose their jobs.
Meralco also on Monday said electricity would have been fully restored in Metro Manila on Sunday but that some areas in nearby provinces will continue to be without power because distribution lines damaged by Typhoon Glenda had not been fixed.
Joe Zaldarriaga, Meralco spokesman, said the company has doubled efforts to restore power in their franchise area.
Also as of Monday, 4.99 percent of the distribution utility’s franchise still had no electricity.
“We hope to close the gap [for Metro Manila] within today. For the franchise area, we cannot say, but we have an internal deadline,” Zaldarriaga told reporters.
He said they are fixing transmission lines in the provinces of Laguna, Cavite, Batangas and Quezon but that it will take time to fully restore power in these provinces.
“These are isolated areas [where] we lost supply because we still have to re-string the lines and fix our transformers after they were devastated by the typhoon,” Zaldarriaga added.
Petilla said the power deficit has narrowed down after the 250-megawatt unit of Santa Rita plant kicked in. The energy situation is expected to improve when four power plants will start feeding the Luzon grid within the week.
These plants are San Lorenzo, Pagbilao 1 and 2, Calaca and BacMan. - Manila Times
Monday, July 21, 2014
TUCP to gather labor groups amid current 'power' situation
MANILA, Philippines - Alarmed by the current power situation in some parts of the country following the onslaught of Typhoon "Glenda," the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines said Monday that it will meet with various business and labor groups this week to draw up measures to address the problem.
TUCP executive director Louie Corral said the Aquino administration has yet to come up with solution to the current energy situation.
Several provinces and areas in Metro Manila have been experiencing power outages after the typhoon crossed Luzon last week.
“TUCP, other labor groups, consumer and business organizations will meet on Wednesday with the aim of figuring out a recommendation to the government on how to minimize the impact of a full-blown power crisis precluded by prolonged rotational brownouts currently prevailing in many key areas Luzon and in Mindanao," Corral said.
He added: "TUCP wants the government to be prepared when the ‘perfect storm,’ caused by lack of power policy, hits the country because it’s the workers who’ll be whipped hard when the storm comes."
The group said that with one of the highest electricity rates in the world, the country remains unattractive to new investments that create quality jobs resulting to a static unemployment of 3.046 million in April 2013 to 2.924 million in April 2014 while underemployed are 11.057 million and 11.501 million covering the same period.
With the rotational brownouts in the equation, the TUCP also fears many jobs might be retrenched with companies affected by inadequate power supply.
The TUCP and its labor coalition called Nagkaisa has recommended twice to President Benigno Aquino III during the previous Labor day dialogue since 2013 the creation of a multi-agency, multi-sectoral presidential task force headed by him and composed of the economic and infrastructure clusters of the cabinet, business chambers, labor, consumer and power industry players.
The aim of the task force is to address the insufficiency of power and the need to determine affordability and competitiveness of power rates in the country.
Based on the recommendation, Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla last May issued an order creating a study group under the DOE.
The TUCP and the Nagkaisa, however, refused to participate saying that they were asking for a presidential task force, not a study group.
Before the onset of rotational brownouts in Metro Manila, Corral said the TUCP urged Petilla to declare a national emergency on power "so that collectively we come up with the right solutions."
“The fate of all industry roadmaps particularly the employment targets is dependent on how we address the power crisis right now. We need a truthful picture of our future power supply so that we can come up with clear strategies and coping mechanisms and avert companies shutting down and retrenchments of workers," Corral said.
The TUCP is recommending that the government temporarily return to the power generation business until there is sufficient supply to restore business confidence, a return to tariff-setting based on 12 percent cap return-on-rate-base (RORB) to bring down the electricity prices to make the country reghionally competitive.
The group also suggests the suspension of Wholesale Electricity Spot Market in favor of bilateral contracting between generators and distributors overseen through a public auction by DOE and Energy Regulatory Commission to ensure true costs and not speculative and “gaming” costs. - Philstar
TUCP executive director Louie Corral said the Aquino administration has yet to come up with solution to the current energy situation.
Several provinces and areas in Metro Manila have been experiencing power outages after the typhoon crossed Luzon last week.
“TUCP, other labor groups, consumer and business organizations will meet on Wednesday with the aim of figuring out a recommendation to the government on how to minimize the impact of a full-blown power crisis precluded by prolonged rotational brownouts currently prevailing in many key areas Luzon and in Mindanao," Corral said.
He added: "TUCP wants the government to be prepared when the ‘perfect storm,’ caused by lack of power policy, hits the country because it’s the workers who’ll be whipped hard when the storm comes."
The group said that with one of the highest electricity rates in the world, the country remains unattractive to new investments that create quality jobs resulting to a static unemployment of 3.046 million in April 2013 to 2.924 million in April 2014 while underemployed are 11.057 million and 11.501 million covering the same period.
With the rotational brownouts in the equation, the TUCP also fears many jobs might be retrenched with companies affected by inadequate power supply.
The TUCP and its labor coalition called Nagkaisa has recommended twice to President Benigno Aquino III during the previous Labor day dialogue since 2013 the creation of a multi-agency, multi-sectoral presidential task force headed by him and composed of the economic and infrastructure clusters of the cabinet, business chambers, labor, consumer and power industry players.
The aim of the task force is to address the insufficiency of power and the need to determine affordability and competitiveness of power rates in the country.
Based on the recommendation, Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla last May issued an order creating a study group under the DOE.
The TUCP and the Nagkaisa, however, refused to participate saying that they were asking for a presidential task force, not a study group.
Before the onset of rotational brownouts in Metro Manila, Corral said the TUCP urged Petilla to declare a national emergency on power "so that collectively we come up with the right solutions."
“The fate of all industry roadmaps particularly the employment targets is dependent on how we address the power crisis right now. We need a truthful picture of our future power supply so that we can come up with clear strategies and coping mechanisms and avert companies shutting down and retrenchments of workers," Corral said.
The TUCP is recommending that the government temporarily return to the power generation business until there is sufficient supply to restore business confidence, a return to tariff-setting based on 12 percent cap return-on-rate-base (RORB) to bring down the electricity prices to make the country reghionally competitive.
The group also suggests the suspension of Wholesale Electricity Spot Market in favor of bilateral contracting between generators and distributors overseen through a public auction by DOE and Energy Regulatory Commission to ensure true costs and not speculative and “gaming” costs. - Philstar
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