Strong Power Industry = Strong Economy

It seems strange that some sectors of the country are trying to make a bogeyman of a well-managed private corporation like Meralco that has proven its capability to help the viability and growth of the economy in the areas it distributes and supplies electricity to, while allowing less capable and oftentimes badly managed power and distribution utilities to operate in their area.

- MARIANNE GO

Beware the bogeyman and monopoly, and suffer instead erratic electricity availability and distribution, and consequently lower production and economic growth.

Don't get me wrong. I am not espousing a monopoly. In fact, I wholeheartedly agree that there should always be robust competition and checks against a full monopoly.

But between having a reliable power supply versus erratic and unreliable power, it seems obvious that the competition must be able to provide the same level of service instead of relying on the bogeyman argument and, as a negative consequence, drag the local economy down.

In a briefing for members of the Monday Circle at the Westin Manila in Ortigas at the start of this week, Meralco's senior vice president and chief external and government affairs officer Arnel Casanova described the Philippine economy as "a suppressed economy simply because the infrastructure and the power is not there."

He pointed out though that if reliable and quality power is provided to the countryside, investments—both local and foreign—"will flock inside the country and compete with our neighboring countries. And therefore, from a service economy, we can build a strong foundation for our manufacturing and technology."

He acknowledged that "There's also an unfounded fear of privatization. But I think Filipinos should begin to think bigger because, the smaller the scale you have in this industry, the more unreliable and the more difficult it is to serve the consumer. The reason is that power distribution is a natural monopoly, and therefore, you have to invest the capital investment first before the businesses come in."