WE’VE all heard about the infamous “cong-tractors” in Congress — construction companies riding on the party-list system to get elected into Congress not only to protect their business allegedly but also reportedly to make business. Another object of curiosity lately is business interest in highly regulated or public interest companies, especially those dealing with health.
There’s this one party-list, with a seat in Congress, which we will name in due course, that is being openly backed by a supposed media conglomerate operating in the provinces. This group apparently is actually a front of a bigger business — a pharmaceutical company, under another layer of being a herbal medicine/food supplement company.
A list from the Food and Drugs Administration has already identified several “high-risk” food products this company is selling through its wide media network. The list is long and one wonders if the entire point of their seat in Congress is to ensure these products are protected from further government scrutiny. And if this happens, whether public health and safety are put at risk to protect a company, via its seat in Congress.
It is criminal enough to make money out of government, but is an entirely new level of deviousness to actually use government to put public health and lives at risk, in order to make money.
The party-list system seems to be fast losing its original intent — to represent and serve the marginalized.
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It’s been quite a while but still Batelec 2 has not yet acted on the years‑long delay on Meralco’s proposed joint venture.
A recent provincewide survey conducted by Capstone-Intel Corp. has revealed growing dissatisfaction among Batangas residents over the unreliable electricity service provided by Batelec 1 and Batelec 2. The findings show that frequent outages are eroding public confidence in the province’s two largest electric cooperatives, with many residents now considering alternative providers.
Among the hardest hit are consumers served by Batelec 2, with 93 percent reporting multiple interruptions. By comparison, 81 percent of Batelec 1 customers reported similar experiences. These brownouts typically last one to two hours, but some extend to three hours.
During a public hearing on Feb. 27, led by the Sangguniang Palladian ng Batangas’ committee on transportation, communication, and public utilities, board chairman Melvin Vidal and vice chairman Alfredo Corona raised concerns about the frequent power outages in the Batelec 2 franchise area.
This discussion was prompted by the Batangas Forum for Good Governance and Development Association Inc., which urged the provincial government to respond to its resolution supporting the joint venture partnership between Meralco and Batelec 2.
In a letter from Batangas Forum president Nelson Terrible, the group stressed that the persistent outages have resulted in significant economic losses for businesses and have severely affected the daily lives of Bitangents. They called on the provincial government to compel Batelec 2’s management to fully disclose the true state of its operations and its concrete plans to improve service reliability and ensure stable electricity for consumers.
For the record, Meralco submitted its joint venture proposal to Batelec 2 three years ago.
Meralco senior vice president and former Bases Conversion Development Authority president Arnel Casanova, who is a resident of Batangas, explained the contents of the proposal and clarified that the joint venture is not a takeover as he said it is designed to strengthen Batelec 2 operations, with Meralco planning to invest billions to upgrade facilities and infrastructure — improvements that would ultimately benefit member‑consumer‑owners through more reliable service.
In fairness to Batelec 2, their representative, engineer Mary Ann Dimaano, said that a technical working group is currently drafting the terms of reference as they have received proposals from three companies — Meralco, Aboitiz and Prime. To which Casanova replied, Meralco would welcome whatever process Batelec 2 may choose, including a competitive bidding.
“We are advocates of transparency,” he emphasized.
But regardless of the outcome, Vidal said the important thing is that it would be the Batangueños who would stand to benefit from the joint power distribution venture.
