Arroyo warned vs bypassing Congress in dealing with Mindanao power crisis

Opposition senators on Monday warned President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo against bypassing Congress in addressing the energy crisis in Mindanao. Senator Francis Escudero said failure to seek the approval of the both the Senate and House of Representatives would make the contracts entered into by the government voidable. "If she does so, then that will make the contracts [the government enters into] entered into voidable. I warn possible suppliers of the inherent illegality of such contracts," Escudero said in a text message to GMANews.TV. Under Section 71 of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA), "upon the determination by the President of an imminent shortage of the supply of electricity, Congress may authorize, through joint resolution, the establishment of additional generating capacity under such terms and conditions as it may approve." Deputy presidential spokesman Gary Olivar earlier said Mrs. Arroyo may likely adopt a recommendation from the Department of Energy to use emergency powers in dealing with the energy crisis. He said Section 71 of the EPIRA may not be needed if the government would lease generator sets, instead of buying or owning them, noting that it is now hard to call for a special session as most of the senators and congressmen are now busy campaigning. No need for emergency powers For his part, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said there is no need to seek emergency powers. "There are solutions other than emergency power like using power barges of the National Power Corporation and running to full the Iligan diesel power plant that now provides 30 megawatts of electricity," Pimentel said in a separate text message to GMANews.TV. He urged the government to look into the possibility of deploying to Mindanao six idle power barges — four owned by the Napocor and two others by the Aboitiz Group — to stave off the acute power shortage there. He said the government should first exhaust all possible measures to beef up the country’s power supply within the scope of powers of the President and the secretary of energy before contemplating on invoking emergency powers. Pimentel said if the purpose of emergency powers is to enable the executive branch to take the shortcut by doing away with public bidding and other rules in awarding the construction of new plants, the temptation to overprice the projects will be too strong. Sufficient powers Vice presidential candidates Senators Loren Legarda and Manuel Roxas II agreed to this, saying the President has sufficient powers to deal with the crisis. "No emergency powers needed just efficiency," Legarda said, adding the government should make an inventory of all alternative power sources in the region and immediately rehabilitate them. She also emphasized the importance of improving electric cooperatives. For his part, Roxas said Congress is not needed to address the problem. "The problem is that the only solution, for now, is power barges, which is the most expensive form of power. It's P10-P12 per kwh power barge solution is burning diesel. So we, the people, will pay expensive energy because of the incompetence and negligence of the government," Roxas said in a text message. - Amita Legaspi/RSJ/KBK, GMANews.TV