Militants march to U-Belt vs energy summit
At least 50 members of a militant women's group marched in Manila's university belt Monday to protest an upcoming government-sponsored energy summit in Pasay City. Radio dzBB reported that members of Gabriela party-list, led by Gabriela Rep. Liza Maza, branded the energy summit as a waste of time, taxpayers' money, and energy. Riot police, however, blocked the group along Morayta Street in Sampaloc, prompting demonstrators to pitch to passing students alternative ways to cope with the energy crisis. Maza and the Gabriela members called for repeal of 12% value-added tax (VAT) for oil products and the repeal of the oil deregulation law. On Sunday, militant umbrella group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) said it will snub the energy summit scheduled for this week in Pasay City. Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr said the summit, organized by the Department of Energy, is just one big roadshow to attract foreign investments. Reyes said the "nature, structure and format of the summit" prompted them to "respectfully decline" the invitation of Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes. "The theme of the summit, '$100/barrel oil, crisis or opportunity,' intends to take advantage of the current oil crisis so that the Arroyo government can make a sales pitch to big foreign investors who are interested in exploiting our country's energy sources," Reyes said. "Bayan has taken the position that the country's energy sources must not be auctioned off to the highest foreign bidder. These energy sources need to be developed to serve national interest to protect the domestic economy from surging oil prices. Surrendering these energy sources to foreign business interests will strategically weaken the energy security of the country and make even renewable energy less affordable," he added. Instead, he said Bayan will carry on the fight to lower oil prices through short-term and long-term means. "We will continue to work with legislators, the academe, business groups, consumer groups and other stake holders interested in pro-people reforms," Reyes said. Reyes added the summit gets funding and direction from multilateral lending institutions such as the Asian Development Bank, World Bank, Japan International Cooperation Agency and the United States Agency for International Development. The mere involvement of these organizations as program partners of the DOE is already an indicator of the real thrusts of summit, Reyes said. "These are the same foreign banks that pushed the Oil Deregulation Law during the 90s. These are the same lending institutions interested in exploiting the Philippines potential sources of alternative and renewable energy," he said. Because of this, he said the energy summit is "one super roadshow presentation to attract foreign investors in the field of renewable and alternative sources of energy." At stake in the summit will be P177 billion in potential investments in the renewable energy sector, he said. - GMANews.TV