KRISIS DAW O | So where is the energy plan? Labor group asks energychief Petilla

 PHOTO BY BERNARD TESTA

MANILA – The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) has expressed alarm that Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla still has not set up the time-bound and transparent consultation that President Aquino has instructed him to do at last week’s SONA to establish policies and plans to address the power crisis.

In a related development, a partylist lawmaker on Monday questioned the forecast of the Department of Energy (DoE) of a looming power crisis that could result in rotating brownouts in Luzon in the summer months next year.

“Power policy is de facto being set by the independent power generation sector and Meralco. They are now taking advantage of the absolute lack of leadership of Petilla as one group is peddling very expensive solar, another trying to lease power barges to the government, and Meralco is shuffling around maintenance schedules to prevent the crisis,” said Louie Corral, TUCP executive director, in a news release.

TUCP appealed to Aquino to convene a multi-agency, multi-sectoral committee to draw up a consensus on what policy we will have on power security and competitive rates.

“Only the president can restore investor and consumer confidence. Petilla preens with confidence but his explanation sounds curiously fraudulent.”

Corral reminded Petilla that the power crisis is not just due to a power deficit but to power rates among the highest in the world.

“Our sky-high power rates have made us regionally uncompetitive in the ASEAN, and now we have all these salesmen of expensive power lobbying on the respective merits of their products,” Corral said.

He empasized that multi-sectoral consensus is key if the people will be made to sacrifice during the crisis.

“We gently remind the DOE secretary that it will be the Filipino taxpayer and the Filipino consumer who will end up footing the bill. If expensive solutions are not backed up by a modicum of government savvy and intervention, we will end precisely where we are now: at the mercy of the independent power producers.”

Is the power crisis real?

Bayan Muna partylist Representative Neri Colmenares said that based on DoE figures as of 2013, the installed capacity for Luzon grid was 12,790 MW and dependable capacity was 11,469 MW. He added that the peak demand for the grid was only 8,700 MW, and Meralco’s share was 6,121 MW.

“So if you deduct dependable capacity from peak demand, there should have been allowance for reserves amounting to 2,700MW. This is more than the 400 MW deficit that (Energy) Secretary (Jericho) Petilla claims. Based on the DoE figures itself, even in a tight supply condition, there should be more than enough supply,” Colmenares said.

“As I see it and based on the DoE data itself power supply is not a problem and there is no need for emergency powers if the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) and DOE would get their acts together. The Aquino administration should stop crying wolf and once again try to find an excuse for a power rate hike,” Colmenares added.

Petilla has been pushing Congress to grant President Benigno Aquino III emergency powers to allow him to deal with the looming crisis.

Colmenares said that if the DoE's reference on plant capacities were accurate, then it should have been addressed a long time ago through the Power Development Plan.

“Is it really supply that is a problem or there are other factors that prevent some capacities from being dispatched, like the supposed collusion between power industry players last year? Up till now the ERC has yet to submit their investigation on the matter,” he said.

The lawmaker also noted that one unit of the 650-MW Malaya plant -- 300 MW capacity -- was down.

"When can the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) bring it back to operation so it can contribute to 2015 summer supply?” he said.

- By: Lira Dalangin-Fernandez, InterAksyon.com

TUCP supports more women in male-dominated jobs

MANILA, Philippines - Labor group Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) on Thursday welcomed the employment of more Filipina women in jobs that used to be dominated by men.

The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) reported that last year, 53 percent of the 1,765,757 technical-vocational graduates were women — many of them are trained as welders and automotive mechanics.

“More Filipina women nowadays are breaking barriers by taking on jobs that once identified only with men. There are now many women employed as welders. Women working as jeepney, taxi, tricycle or bus drivers are also growing.

“I think our traditional frame of mind should begin to accepting changes such as these as we continue to honor our Filipina women for their invaluable contribution to the family and for their positive impacts they have made in our society,” Gerard Seno, executive vice president of the Associated Labor Unions-TUCP said.

Seno said there is a need to craft or improve existing workplace and training policies in government and in private sectors in anticipation of the influx of more women into the construction sector and other male dominated jobs including heavy equipment operators.

He lauded the recent effort of TESDA director general Joel Villanueva and Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano for facilitating the training of 4,200 skilled female workers and possible hiring for Dubai until 2016 with specialization in electrical installation and maintenance, plumbing, refrigeration, air-conditioning and automotive mechanic.

Based on the Labor Force Survey of the National Statistics Office in October last year, 14.8-million women are employed out of the total 15.7 million female labor force.

In the same period in 2011, of the 15.6-million women labor force, 14.6 million of them are employed. There are more than an estimated 400,000 female entrants every year.

Most women workers are found traditionally employed in wholesale and retail trade, agriculture, hunting and forestry, manufacturing. They are also into service sector such as health and social work, education, hotels and restaurants, and financial remediation. - Dennis Carcamo / PhilStar

TUCP thumbs down SONA 2014

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) has expressed dismay over President Benigno Aquino III’s declarations during his fifth State of the Nation Address (SONA) last Monday, particularly on matters pertaining to contractualization and low wage.

Early into his national report, the President regaled the nation about the accomplishments of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority or TESDA which was a beneficiary of P1.6 billion funds from the government’s Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP).

Aquino said under TESDA’s training for work scholarship program, the government was able to help 223,165 TESDA students. From over 200,000 beneficiaries, 66 percent or 146,731 finished their courses and are now employed. TESDA is continuing to help the rest look for jobs.

The TUCP failed to hear updates on other labor issues. Instead of the TESDA “success story”, the group was hoping to know what the President is doing to address contractualization, low salary rates, unemployment and underemployment, and the effect of power crisis to labor and industry.

TUCP, a major labor group in the country, plans to ask for P135 salary increase by September. - Manila Bulletin

P89 wage hike in Northern Mindanao pushed

THE Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board in Northern Mindanao (RTWPB-10) has completed the first round of deliberations on the actual rate of minimum wage increase for workers in the region.

Although initial results of the review were not disclosed yet, labor groups are hopeful the wage board will support the daily minimum wage increase petition.

The Associated Labor Union-Trade Union of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) in the region formally sought an P89 daily wage increase on July 16, 2014.

If approved, the daily minimum wage in the region will become P395 for agricultural and non-agricultural workers.

Lawyer Gretchen Lamayon, RTWPB-10 chief information officer, told Sun*Star Cagayan de Oro Wednesday the final results of the petition will be revealed "sooner" and subjected to discussion from among different sectors.

The discussion will be held with the presence of the heads of the region's Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and National Economic and Development Authority (Neda), two representatives from the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole), and two representatives from the private sector.

In a petition passed to the RTWPB-10, the ALU-TUCP justified the requested increase as beneficial to the working population amid the increasing cost of standard of living.

"The P89 daily increase is essential if workers are to cope with the increasing prices of commodities and cost of living, if they are to meet the basic needs of their families, even if only partial, and if the country gives meaning and substance to the policy of equitable distribution of income and wealth. The increase, small as it is, has been overtaken by increases in power and water rates, in health and education costs, the prices of oil and its products, LPG, and basic goods and services," the petition read.

"Prices of goods and services in the following months are also expected to rise by at least 5 percent which would require an additional P21.42 adjustment in wages considering the increasing prices of goods and services especially power rates because of the current power shortage in Mindanao. Also, the daily take home pay of wage earners are lower due to legally mandated deductions such as SSS, PhilHealth and Pag-Ibig contributions and income tax," it added.

Wildon Barros, Kilusang Mayo Uno-Northern Mindanao chairperson, told this paper that although they are pushing for the P125 minimum wage across the board since last year, they will also support ALU-TUCP's endeavor.

"We still want the RTWPB to say yes to this because it is for the benefit of our workers at the end of the day," Barros said by phone.

May 15 last year, the RTWPB-10 approved the latest P306 wage increase per day from P286 for the wage earners in northern Mindanao. - Sun Star