Dubious power, airport deals brought to graft super body

Two questionable multibillion-peso government deals with under-financed firms have been brought to the anti-corruption mega task force.

First is the grant of collection rights of over P1.2 billion yearly electricity market fees to a company with only P7,000 paid-up capital. IEMOP (Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines) began collecting more than P100 million a month from electricity users in October 2018. Incorporators and directors include spouses of high Energy officials.

Second is the negotiated contracting of the P107-billion Manila International Airport expansion to an outfit worth only a third of MIA. In return Megawide Corp. will have the right to run the airport and raise terminal and other fees from passengers and users. It can replace all 14,000 MIA regular and contractual workers. That was bared in last month’s Congress deliberation on the Transport department’s 2021 budget. With assets of P17.9 billion, Megawide will take over operations from the P47-billion MIA Authority. Allegedly that breaches the required 70-percent capital or P32 billion.

Both deals fall within criterion of the new anti-sleaze super body, led by the Justice department, to investigate cases involving at least P1 billion. Administration Rep. Jericho Nograles (Puwersa ng Bayaning Atleta) referred them to Justice Sec. Menardo Guevarra last Wednesday.

President Duterte’s anti-graft task force consists of the Dept. of Justice, Office of the Ombudsman, Commission on Audit, Civil Service Commission, Office of the President, Office of the Executive Secretary and Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission. Formed last week, the team is to go after government crooks till the end of Duterte’s term in 2022.

Writing to Guevarra, Nograles referred “two issues that Congress has discussed and continues to discuss, namely the IEMOP scandal and the Megawide unsolicited proposal for MIA enhancement scandal.”

Nograles expounded: “The IEMOP scandal is theft of the highest order. IEMOP is collecting fees from every electricity consumer without any authority from the Energy Regulatory Commission. To this date, the ERC does not recognize the existence of IEMOP and there is no legislative or executive action to give IEMOP any legal authority to collect billions of pesos from consumers. The continued collection of IEMOP suggests that certain officials are complicit in this scandal, and therefore in violation of R.A. 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act).”

Nograles went on: “The Megawide scandal has been questioned in plenary sessions of the House of Representatives as to why the company continues to enjoy Original Proponent Status from MIAA when the National Economic and Development Authority has already determined the proposal to be insufficient as of August 2020. The continued enjoyment of OPS, among other questionable actions, is a clear violation of R.A. 3019.”

IEMOP’s takeover of the government’s collection of electricity wholesale fees was first questioned in late 2009 by Rep. Rosanna Vergara (Nueva Ecija), the majority coalition’s expert on the power industry. Nograles uncovered in January 2020 the transfer of government equipment and other assets to the private firm, whose executives earn million-peso monthly remuneration. Energy officials denied any dubiousness then.

Nograles exposed the Megawide negotiated deal in August. A super-consortium of seven conglomerates had backed out of the MIA expansion because transport officials suddenly changed the contract terms. The officials then offered Megawide softer terms, Nograles noted. Fellow-administration Rep. Jesus Suntay elicited during transport budget debates Megawide’s privilege to fire 14,000 MIA employees. The company later said it would rehire or retain those who opt to stay.

“My office is ready and willing to assist your Department and task force for any and all information regarding these scandals,” Nograles assured Guevarra.

*      *      *

No homes, no livelihoods, no aid. That’s what victims of Sunday’s super typhoon are suffering. As well, those of recent earthquakes, floods, landslides. Twenty-seven million lost their jobs from the pandemic economic slump.

All the while, high officials are politicking. They’re working on the Supreme Court to declare failure of the 2016 election – to unseat the Vice President and install a loser. Yet in tedious vote recounts by the electoral tribunal, that loser has failed to prove fraud in the very provinces he claims to have been cheated. The officials want to shortcut the process while people are distracted by hunger and hardship.

Crass neglect of people’s needs is unjust. Injustice can divide the nation and incite civil discontent. The military will be left to quell unrest – till conscience tells it to withdraw support from unjust political rulers.

Let’s learn from the 1986 People Power Revolution. That loser was on the wrong side of history then.

*      *      *

Catch Sapol radio show, Saturdays, 8 to 10 a.m., DWIZ (882-AM).

My book “Exposés: Investigative Reporting for Clean Government” is available on Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/Amazon-Exposes

Paperback: https://tinyurl.com/Anvil-Exposes or at National Bookstores.

*      *      *

Gotcha archives: https://tinyurl.com/Gotcha-Archives