29th Buklod Atenista Summer Congress Day 1 – May 28, 2012

1. Welcoming Message by Dr. Lina Wong 2. Recap of Events by Cate Sison

3. 1st session: Sustainable governance

c/o Misamis Oriental Governor, Gov. Oscar Moreno

• Impeachment o Fundamental Principles

Accountability Three Branches of government: Executive, Legislative, and

Judiciary • Check and balance • Independence • Some divisions have powers that others donʼt have

o Special mode of disciplining officials o Not all officials are subject to impeachment

Mode of discipline o Members in the legislative cannot be removed except by themselves (2/3

vote of the senate) o Can only be initiated in the lower house with the involvement or

participation of at least one member of the lower house (endorsed or signed)

Stages: 1) refered to Committee on Justice, 2) determination of sufficiency of substance and data, 3) finding of the primo faci case (reason to believe that he violated something) and elevated

o Trial is in the Senate. If the president is being impeached, the Chief Justice is the presiding officer, otherwise, itʼs the Senate President.

o Plenary of at least 1/3 can overrule the decision of the Committee on Justice (What happened in the Erap impeachment)

o Itʼs normal to fiscalize the administration o Ombudsman is more powerful than the President

• Explains the story of an overruling of the DoJ ruling. • There comes a point in your life when you are asked what to do, and the more

difficult road is the right road • There is a need for the younger people to get involved • Questions:

o Gigi: Pinakamadaling experience and pinakamahirap? Easy: Seeing people happy when you serve and level of

fulfillment Hardest: All sorts of problems. The more you extend a helping

hand, the more you realize that your hand is short. There are more people to help out there.

o Gigi: What do you hold on to despite the hardships? Desire to help, and the fact that your children are happy and the

people you help are happy o Alexis: As a politician, how do you deal with those problems?

Iba-iba. My ambition is to go back because my whole family is in Manila. So I wish to serve and then go back to the private-sector. My ambition is what keeps me strong.

o Alexis: Have you already committed sins? I have many sins. I have more private sins than public sins.

o Gio: Why did you decide to go to the public sector? It was my being a provincial. If I had not left the private sector, I

would have been richer. I did not get a single centavo from the public sector, but I got a senior citizen card. I did not like politics,

 

then during 1992, there was a new governor is Cebu city, and the first thing that the new governor did was to question everything the previous administration has done in terms of their deals with external corporations. It was more political than anything so the group concluded that they needed a politician-lawyer to solve it. I got included with Pimentel to his visits to Cebu to solve the case. Time moved on and then I was transformed, and started saying that “Politics is okay.” At my first attempt, I lost because people didnʼt know me because I was placed in Manila.

o Peter: What makes a politician not corrupt Thatʼs hard. Because people look up to you as a provider of

everything. So what makes you less corrupt is when you bring services to people in the best way possible using the government funds and resources

o Peter: Sustainability of government agencies when it comes to the ones who are not elected at large? How is it done?

Vigilance. There are people who express their shock. Whatʼs hard is that there is no president who starts at 0. Noynoy inherited a bureaucracy. Itʼs better to be a legislator. Whatʼs the difference? Legislators have equity in terms of material possessions (same cars) and procedures (learn throughout the way). You also donʼt need bureaucracy. You are always relevant. However, in executive, no matter how good you are, you donʼt get a brand new car. You get the car of your predecessor. No matter how good your ideas are, you will still need bureaucracy. It is the bureaucracy that makes it happen.

The answer: Pressure from the people. Itʼs not going to be easy but hopefully, the 6 years of PNoy will be enough to start something.

o Nicole: The citizens always get the idea that politics in the Philippines is hopeless, as someone who experienced it first hand, is it really hopeless?

Never lose hope. Itʼs not hopeless. Someday, you will be a politician.

o Nicole: How? Itʼs in us. Donʼt look at others to change. Itʼs in yourself.

o Mau: Do you have any plans of running? No

o Alexis: Given this situation that Iʼm a voter, can you give us a reason on why I should vote for you and why I shouldnʼt vote for you.

Yes: You will vote for me, because you would want CDO to be brought back to its glorious state

Not: I see no reason why you shouldnʼt vote for me. I donʼt buy votes. “Pwede pa sa Misamis Oriental”

o Tesh: Inherit ugly system, so what are your suggestions to PNoy on where he should target the system?

Bureaucracy. Itʼs the most difficult thing to handle in government service. That idea came to me when I came to office because my predecessor really broke down the car. So we had to display them for months. So it entered my mind that you inherit the car of your predecessor so I have to make it again. Bureaucracy is the hardest, and once you fix that, everything else follows. This impeachment, I donʼt know what will happen. Itʼs a really hard case because if CJ does not get impeached, then what message will it bring to the Filipino people. I donʼt know how the youth will take it. On the other hand, the others are very careful with separation of powers. Never again will we have a one-man rule—it was disastrous for our country. Martial law has taught us not to

 

have those again and the danger here is the system of checks and balances might be broken. The effect that the impeachment may bring. But then of course, we need reform

o Tesh: So what can you suggest that the current bureaucracy should change?

System. Reform in 5 areas: Revenue side (encourage local governments to generate revenues), Engineering side, Human Resource management, Internal Audit (itʼs a norm, but in government itʼs strange), and Procurement. Australian government picked provinces for pilot provinces—Davao del Norte, Lanao del Norte, Misamis Oriental, Aklan, etc. Lanao del Norte joining this project, I have no reason to doubt that they will succeed. If they succeed, Lanao del Sur will not be far behind because there is competition between those two. So with LdS doing the same thing, North Cotabato will not be far behind. So, itʼs not useless. Itʼs not hopeless. There is hope. And we are seeing some discernable changes. Mindanao, today, is very much different with the Mindanao when we were your age.

o BJ: Having defined corruption, can you rate the corruption in Mis. Or.? 3.

o BJ: How do you fight this corruption? Overtime. Iʼm now very unpopular because I changed the way

things were done. o Kayla: Weʼre trying to propose Bantay Opisyal and weʼre trying to ban

red plates from entering Ateneo (explains the situation). What do you think about it?

If you ban it, freedom of travel and other constitutional rights will be violated. But you can expose them. [What if you do need to bring your kid to school, what will you do about that?] Some change their plates. Avoid. Most likely use private plates but to ban that, then there will be some constitutional issues involved so the best way is to expose them.

o Sammy: was there any instance wherein you encountered a problem in politics and your family was affected?

Iʼm no saint. There was a time where there was an issue on marital infidelity and my son defended me.

o Dean: Related to the constitution of CDO, 1) Will you run for our mayor? 2) Situationer on the political dynasty whose been hurting CDO so much. What is your plans for CDO? 3) We hope to hear more from you and your plans in the future.

1) Yes 2) I filed last May 7 an application for the transfer of my

legislation. Iʼm not running for any position except this but Iʼm not prepared to make any announcements because itʼs too early. Plans, 1st letʼs bring back the glory of CDO. Itʼs a very historic, strategic city—itʼs the Crown Jewel in the upper half of Mindanao. Itʼs right in the middle from east to west and very close to the visayas. Itʼs the center of commerce, trade, education, government, and the hub (travel by sea and land). Anywhere you are, you can come to CDO and the problem is, it is not a competitive city.

3) Health and Education. These are very empowering services. The idea of government is you empower the people. Itʼs so that the people will be served so that you will not even think of the government. Education, itʼs a great equalizer. Itʼs important to have universities. These are the two most important services because theyʼre very empowering.

 

• Clear values and principles is needed for a sustained government. That is the edge of an Atenean student leader—men and women for others.

4. No to Open-pit Mining

c/o Ateneo de Davao University • Background

o Integrate the issue of No to Mining in Palawan to Mindanao. o Started by Ms. Regina Lopez in her “Save Palawan Movement” o Aim: Raise 10M signatures for the government to take a stand against

mining in Palawan o Goal: 1) Protect the Biodiversity, 2) Secure food security, 3) not the only

path to economic development, 4) demonstrated no protocols in controlling mining

• Update: o One million signatures from AdDU o Fr. Taboraʼs mining conference – controversy since Mining companies

were not invited there • Why Mindanao?

o Impacts the socio o Mindanao has the largest resources and reserves according to the

Chamber of Mines of the Philippines o Argument: Mining increases economy

Counter-argument: Increases in economic contribution is meager and agriculture is higher in economic return

o Argument: Mining encourages working class Counter-argument: Most of the workers, after the initial

preparations are laid-off. o Mining will be turned to full blast and can contaminate major river

systems of Mindanao • SMI Tampakan Project

o Mining project ought to fail because itʼs located in areas of very high seismic activity—Cotabato fault line and Philippine fault line, and near an active volcano

o Generated toxic waste is 2.7 billion tons, 300 meters high of toxic soil after the water has evaporated.

o If it fails, it has a high chance of lives being lost • Effects

o Threat to biodiversity – Mindanao forests and toxic wastes from mining o Danger to freshwater areas o Land devastation after mining operations o Threat to food supply o Employment – scarce job opportunities, and job hazards o No proper regulations o Biggest chunk of money do not go to the Philippines, they go to foreign

companies o Security threats – Military and NPA presence o Social injustice – forced evacuation, danger to indigenous tribes

(ancestral domains) • Why is it an important issue to talk about?

o The different sectors (environmental, economic, and socio-cultural) affects the entire Philippines

o Difference of Open-pit mining (expose toxic waste) and mining (inside caves)

o Problem with 1995 mining act – in favor of the foreigners and the Philippines gets little for it.

• Proposals/ Challenge

 

o Continue/intensify the educational awareness campaign against open-pit mining

o Appeal to LGUs to talk about the issue on mining and intensify their educational campaign

o Activities to raise media awareness (i.e. indignation rallies) o Include the new mining bill (draft) in the list of priority bills include the new

mining bill o Call for a mining moratorium, rational mining policy, and effective

governance to ensure proper enforcement of laws o Republic Act 7942 (Philippine Mining Act of 1995)

Proposed by GMA Companies are owned by foreign investors, around 789

approved mining permits o Proposed Bills for Mining

Establishment of No mining areas in Mindanao and Palawan • Considered as key biodiversity areas • Disaster prone areas • Resource valuation areas

Require contractors to pay for environmental damage Payment for rehabilitation once the mine is closed down Require economic audit, impact assessment, mitigation plans,

etc. Priority for peopleʼs access to clean water Research and technology for small scale mining (to remove

monopoly in mining) • For Buklod

o Create a resolution or a stand against Open-pit mining, to push for the 3 bills, and empowerment of our country (status quo: Weʼre pleading the foreign companies to “rape” our land)

o Look into our suggestions • Questions

o Gigi: Appeal to LGUs, there are units who are for the mining and against the mining

Tesh: some of the LGUs around the Tampakan project are in favor of the mining

Gigi: We should identify who are for the mining and against the mining

o Gigi: Is there progress on the project? Luna: Theyʼre starting to evacuate the people and starting with

the dams o Gigi: Any dialogue happening?

Luna: These companies come in the tribes and they ask them, “Who wants a free sack of rice.” And they document who raises their hands. Government are trying to educate the tribes to say no to mining.

o Earl: More than tapping the LGUs, identify the agencies necessary to have permits (license is cumulative and indivisible). Is there a proposed action plan on how we can lobby this issue?

Luna: weʼll take that into consideration o Vince: As far as we can remember, they lobbied for signature campaigns

and went as far to have a university stand. Do you guys have university stands?

Luna: Yes. o Gio: Our president also released a statement against mining. We see the

need for quick action, but over-all, the policy should be examined. If ever we make a stand, it should have a greater effect. It should be a call to review the policy. Regarding the resolution, we should get our own school

 

officials involved because malakas hatak nila and those that have direct contact with the government

o Nicole: Tap people because the congress are the ones making resolutions and laws. So talk to Mindanao congresspeople so we can have more consolidated effort

o Dean: CDO we have this special case because we have hydro-mining. They need to wash out the whole mountain to get the gold deposits below. Many companies need a Mining and Geoscience under DENR so I can contact them tonight and share the process of issuing the permit.

o Nicole: Open-pit mining in Mindanao is not as popular as Mining in Palawan, so maybe have a media partner in order to generate attention to Mindanao because itʼs a really pressing issue

o Earl: By 2035, if all the mining will happen, Mindanao will turn into dry land.

o Nicole: Do they own the land already? Luna: theyʼre trying to buy land already and they own some

already except those tribes that donʼt want to sell their land o Nicole: Did you talk to DENR already?

Tesh: If Iʼm not mistaken, the admin is in direct contact with the tribes there.

o Gigi: Share with us if you have research papers about the whole thing because I think numbers are important—how many are affected, fault lines [how far are they], etc. Data is important to convince politicians. It also shouldnʼt be one-sided because we might be criticized. Itʼs important to provide us with the bigger picture.

o Dean: Show two sides of the coin. Why you should say yes and no so that we can have a more contextualized answer from Buklod

Tesh: For that, one thing thatʼs a criticism in mining in davao, all the participants were against mining. Fr. Taboraʼs plan is to invite both sides in the next conference

o Dean: invite lawmakers as a third party so that we can voice out our stand after the 2 sides are presented.

o Gio: How long will it take before they start working? Luna: Within this year or 2 years if theyʼre not stopped. Gio: The only way to stop them…?

• Luna: Is the governmentʼs action • Earl: Is for the volcano to erupt

o Nicole: I remember Sec. Paje saying that there is a moratorium and they suspended issuing permits as of now because of the Palawan thing so maybe you should involve them more.

Luna: SMI has not been given permits yet, but theyʼve already started evacuating

o Dean: Violation fee is really minimal compared to the profit. o Tin: Student level: Make posters and make it viral.

Tesh: we are creating videos about this and already spreading it o Tin: ADMU, we have a project called the ANECON 2013, maybe we can

have a portion to discuss this. o Gigi: I feel that there are a lot of sectors involved so there should be a

standardized plan for each sector (admin, student, community) o Cate: Share the videos for everyone for the whole Philippines, make a

stand Luna: we can research and then make a stand afterwards

o Gio: Uphold the moratorium being implemented cause if not, it might be too late. While we gather more data and engage more sectors, there shouldnʼt be any railroading that will happen.

Mau: we should capitalize on what we have it right now. 5. Ateneo Task Force 2013 / Senatorial Elections

c/o Ateneo de Manila University

 

Ateneo Task Force 2010 • Registration

o Local registration o My Big Vote o Hakot

Transportation system to bring students to the place where they could register

• Education o Sabay-sabayan

Inviting of candidates to speak inside campus o Political talks

Awareness and talks from different units • Mobilization

o Loyola Schools Multisectoral Mock Elections (Students, administration, staff, faculty, etc.)

o Buklod – Ateneo Youth Agenda Certain agenda to be lobbied to senators and candidates

• Partner Institutions o Work closely with partner institutions o Sanggu (Student Government) o COA (Council of Organizations of the Ateneo) o ARSA (Ateneo Resident Studentsʼ Association o OSCI (Office of Social Involvement) o ADSA (Assistant Dean for Student Affairs) o SLB (Simbahang Lingkod ng Bayan) o PPCRV (Philippine Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting)

• Goal o Engage 20% of the student population in non-partisan and partisan o Gather statistics of actual voters vs. registered voters o Impact of 2010 on Atenean voters

Ateneo Task Force 2013 • Timeline is overlapping

o Phase 1 – Registration (April – October 2012) o Phase 2 – Education (July – October 2012) o Phase 3 – Mock Elections (November – February 2013) o Phase 4 – Mobilization (February – June 2013)

• Set goals for each phase (must be quantifiable) • Engage fellow Ateneans to engage in the community • Challenge for Buklod

o Similar network in our own schools o Work together with sectors for each stage for smooth execution of

phases o Craft Ateneo Youth Agenda by Mid-year

Consolidate issues and concerns and lobby by or before election period

o Engage as many Ateneans in the election proper in May 2013 (will affect the next 6 years in government)

o Participate in Nation-building • Phase goals

o Registration Find out the number of Ateneans eligible to vote Contact COMELEC Set a target percentage or number

o Education Standardized media partners for all schools

 

Exchange contacts of candidates Educate partner communities (via NSTP) – we are the ones

with access to knowledge o Mobilization

Mock elections before school year ends Finalize AYA and lobby it to candidates Encourage poll watching and student involvement Ensure whole system works

o Org structure is with President and thereʼs a phase head for each phase

• Questions o Peter: We have our own Phase 1 and Phase 2, but we donʼt have

Phase 3. A suggestion is to have the education/awareness from COMELEC before the senators are invited

o Mau: Not only focus on technicalities (during voterʼs education) but also come up with an issue-based campaign

Nicole: [during ATF 2010] We summarized the presidentiables and it was posted before they voted.

o Vince: Institutionalize task force, so we can see during Midyear the progress

Nicole: We also want but since this is a local elections, we should also see to it to focus on local issues

Gio: This is where AYA is seen to be important, which is a product of Buklod. However, during 2010, we were only able to finalize our AYA during May 2010 and by that time, it was kind of late already. AYA is to present to the candidates what the Ateneo Youth stands for, and if they support this agenda, we will support the certain candidate. Itʼs a commitment to consult our students on what issues they are passionate about and what they want their senators to tackle

o Meki: Was the ATF 2010 successful? Gio: Yes and no. Nicole: It had its strengths – itʼs a good thing to get your

students involved to help the election system. We should also collaborate with our local PPCRV.

o Meki: How do we encourage students to participate because that seems to be the hardest thing?

Nicole: Involve the faculty. We had required talks and had incentives. It helped us realize how big elections are.

o Tesh: Mock elections – make the elections exciting by making it electronic voting

o Ruby: Mock elections happen before school starts. What happens during summer?

Gio: Prepare the student body for election proper. We need preparations. We get volunteers and assign them to different stations, primers are produced, main avenue is through social media

Nicole: Most likely, those who register will also vote. The difficult thing is the registration

o Kayla: I think this is why we should start early cause people are busy during the school year and they will definitely cram.

o Cate: What is the reason for the mock elections? For the students to be enticed to vote, or for them to know the voting process?

Nicole: For them to get the feel of voting Meki: I think the process of elections can be explained by

COMELEC Gio: Itʼs to make them aware of the elections—hype them up.

 

Nicole: I think this gives an idea of the percentage of those who are passionate enough to vote. If they really want, they will find the time to vote

Mau: Also, weʼll have an idea of who the youth likes o Dean: Maybe we should make the mock elections simultaneous with

our [student government] election period? Cate: Itʼs different per school. For some of us, elections

happen early February so itʼs not gonna be ideal. o Alexis: Suggestion: For registration, contact COMELEC. The

SAMAHAN also had a plan like that and somebody suggested (for registration) that we should invite COMELEC ahead of time

Gio: Yes, thatʼs the plan. so the process of contacting COMELEC is:

• Contact your local COMELEC • Write a letter to COMELEC to schedule the satellite

registration • Bargain how long the satellite registration is

(coordinate) • Set a date • Have a data on who can register

• Problems Encountered: o Registration

We did not take into account the freshmen who had a big population who are eligible

Sign up for students to jeep ride and no-shows Satellite registration happened during Summer 2009 there

were no students in school, it was a hassle for them to go to school

Luna: How about the dormers, are they allowed to vote in manila?

• 3rd years are allowed • dormers are encouraged to register in their own

localities so that when they go home, they can register

Luna: Lobby to COMELEC dormers voting • Gigi: It might not be worth it for COMELEC if konti

lang. • Nicole: Incentive system (bonus points)

o Education The key people to contact candidates One Ateneo para malakas yung hatak La Salle got the televised debate media partner (we should

do this and get our own media partner and televise our debate in respective campuses

o Mobilization Mock Elections (hatakan) Poll watching

• Not a lot participated (about 200-300) • Entice more students

• Vince: Since 60-80% of the students are not from Naga, how can we follow the structure?

o Nicole: You can focus on other phases that are more pertinent o Cate: You can promote registering in their localities.

• Presentation of AYA o Priority areas

Short-term Medium-term Long-term

 

c/o Attorney Rona Ann V. Caritos • Legal Network for Truthful Electins (LENTE)

o First and only non-partisan nationwide network of layers, law students, paralegals and other trained volunteers engaged to do election work

o Started in the Ateneo human rights center based in Ateneo Law School

o How the Student Government could be mobilized for the 2013 Senatorial Electorize

• Mobilize (meanings) o Engage o To put into action o “Mobile” – Action

• Problems when it comes to students or student government o Apathy o Time management o Other commitments o Lack of resources o Technology – double-edged sword

• 5 Wʼs and 1 H o When: May 13, 2013 (roughly 350 days)

Voterʼs registration ends on October 21, 2012 Developments with ARMM: Last year, 2011 elections

supposedly so they [ARMM regional elections] will happen simultaneously with the 2013 senatorial elections

MILF and Government agreed with peace talks Congress passed the law annulling the book of holders from

voting (all who registered in ARMM, will not be valid anymore due to multiple registrants, etc.)

Importance: monitor regulations and developments in ARMM on ARMM voting (July 9-18, 2012 too short and no access to information)

• Why 9 days only? o 500,000 voters o they feel that 9 days is enough for 500,000

people o Where: Nationwide

General Registration • Costs • Biometrics taken by machines – you can not register

in another municipality anymore o 350,000 have biomentrics o 150,000 donʼt. o Congress called for a general registration

due to distrust o What: National and local elections (position of senators down) o Who: Everyone (Why do you need to engage?)

Battle ground for the 2016 Presidential Elections • 2 major parties are forming up • Crucial ground for the elections

2nd time for Automated Election System (AES) • Learning Curve

o Exponential in nature o The more you practice, the more productive

you become • The 2010 Elections were still nangangapa on how to

cheat the system

 

• It will be the 2nd time so they will expose loopholes and weaknesses of the machines, and know more on how to cheat the system

Opportunities for involvement • COMELECʼs new initiatives (vulnerable sectors,

campaign finance, prosecution of election offenses) o COMELEC exerted efforts for our detainees

to be able to vote (1st time in our contryʼs history)

o We can connect local COMELEC with detention centers or the local management bureau

o Extended efforts for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs)

o Involvement with Indigenous People (IPs) – lack of documentary requirements, IDs, etc.

Resolution: No need for IDs for IPs, the only need is for the tribal head to identify the person who wants to register

• Untapped networks and groups o Create partnerships with these sectors

(especially indigenous people) o Exert voterʼs education to these sectors o To create more impact because the Ateneo

network is small • Social Media

o Go mainstream through social media o Road less travelled

Democracy and Good Governance • Elections is not a one-time activity • Overwhelming support for 2010 elections = free and

fair elections o Candidates extended beyond the electronic

process and cheated elsewhere Vote buying Cheating Is it really a fair and free and

credible elections? • Current political Situation

o Impeachment Manifestation of Check and Balance Itʼs an accountability mechanism of

public officials Protection of public trust Gets peopleʼs interest and attention Review of current laws We are watching At least it looks like the process will

be finished Limitation of the power of the

Ombudsman Itʼs a waste because the funds of the

government seem to be spent on the trial

o People were empowered and educated on the bounds and limitations of the actions of the officials

 

o Public officials are more wary of what they declare in their SALN

o Follow through with the impeachment or else all momentum will be lost

o How do you engage yourself and your constituents? What will LENTE do?

• Human rights based education information activities via traditional and non-traditional channels

o Voterʼs education o Accountability trainings

• Networking and Mobilization (foray into colleges and universities)

o Partnerships with groups • Service-oriented Election Monitoring

o Stationed in a voting sector and the volunteer waits for the questions and queries of voters, along with PPCRV and NAMFREL

o Engage Use core competencies men and women for others

o http://www.facebook.com/lentenational o email: lente.philippines@gmail.com

• Questions o Gio: How do you solve the apathy among students especially

students who are not yet eligible to vote? Include that in the voterʼs education Give them all the opportunities Donʼt always think that you should mobilize a lot

• Thatʼs a plus but you can only do so much Just do what you can You canʼt force everyone to have a say in our countryʼs

elections o Earl: [Not related with elections but related with engagement]

Question of a senator-judge in the impeachment: Pangilinan asked about SALN and the constitution: “as specified by the law.” Essentially, no violation. What is your take?

Process was not followed and I always stand by the rule of law.

Supreme law of the land – Constitution always prevails above laws

o Peter: “Sayang” For me itʼs not sayang because we have good laws and the implementation is the one being questioned. So now the task is to review current laws and see the loopholes of each law.

Somewhere along the road, the impeachment provision worked and thatʼs good enough for me.

o Earl: Last elections, I volunteered to be an examiner, and we were tasked to observe and document all irregularities. Candy = vote buying. And command voting. I thought it was just messianic complex so I called LENTE. So when we went out, people asked if weʼre staying until 6 because weʼre not going to survive if ever. It was 5:30 already so we kept on calling so we could leave. My question is, in those cases, up to what extent can LENTE offer more than the par legal process that you have discussed?

Meta-legal accountability Accountability advocacy – end impunity in our elections

(attitude that itʼs okay to vote buy, challenge current status quo)

 

6. Mindanao Power Crisis c/o Director Jesus T. Tamang, Department of Energy

• How is electric power generated and delivered o Non-renewable energy o Renewable energy: Solar, wind, hydro (major source [54%] of

electricity for Mindanao), geothermal o Base load – operating on a continuous basis (coal) o Peaking (6am and 6pm) – sudden need (short-time powerplants –

diesel and oil-based powerplants) o Reserve margin requirement o Load power is consumed by a circuit o Income to government is being provided by the services sector

• Power sector structure o Pre-EPIRA

National Power Corporation (NPC) Vertically integrated Owns portfolios of plants Contracted IPPs to meet demand Tariffs are regulated

o Post-EPIRA Not under NPC anymore Energy Regulatory Commission – states tariff and

regulations • Mindanao Power Sector Challenges

o Insufficient baseload o Thin reserve capacity – not enough

Therefore, unserved power o Installed capacity not fully available o Limited generation mix o Limited transmission and distribution lines

• Initiatives o Government

We cannot be too dependent on any one fuel Monitor more closely the daily operations of the Mindanao

power systems and intervene as necessary • Scheduling of maintenance • Are they all properly operated

Department Issuance (March 19, 2012) directing the electric power industry participants to comply with their obligations.

Facilitate project developments of investors Coordinate with other units

• There are a lot of requirements of government agencies

Conducted with world Bank a feasibility study for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Mindanao

• Identified CDO as site with most potential Develop Mindanao energy plan Promote investments in new capacities Study appropriate electricity market model for Mindanao

o Private Sector Power-plants of the private sector

• What still needs to be done o 7-8% economic growth target o Infrastructure programs i.e. roads, bridges, ports, etc.

Magnets of development requirement for additional services (oil and power) – we need to be ready and prepare

o Expanded Renewable Energy and fuel mix

 

Research and develop renewable energy o Climate change impacts

Vulnerability assessment • Systems can be rotated properly

o Mindanao – Visayas interconnection o Full household electrification by 2017 o Promote energy efficiency and conservation as a way of life – bright

now Carpooling Turning off of electricity

o Facilitate/Incentivize investments on Energy Have land use classification for energy Local energy planning Resource assessment

o Demand Side Management Load transfer or shifting

o Promote Clean Fuels and Technologies E-Vehicles CNG for Transport LNG for Power Generation and Industry Bus Rapid Transport

o Participate in Watershed Management • Questions:

o Mau: EPIRA paved the way for privatization of our sources so the power rates hiked up. Isnʼt it that the government is somewhat not protecting their consumers of high power rates?

Government has been over-protecting. Powerʼs true rate is not being reflected.

o Peter: Whenever we try to open up the idea of privatization, the very tendency is that the government might not be on the side of the people to regulate the pricing, right?

Itʼs not un-regulated. We have energy regulatory commission to be able to look at the prices of the energies. They are mandated to hold a stakeholderʼs meeting. There is also an infrastructure fund to reduce rate.

o Peter: How long must it take for those cities to stand how much reserve energy can be reached?

What is being done – we need to have a good estimate, what does the area need? There might not be enough indication to see on where the sudden increase will come from.

How much time? – depends on the movements but there shouldnʼt be a problem, but local problem enters because itʼs not always from the generation site—the problem can come from the distribution utility (local problem).

o Alexis: I donʼt know if itʼs right to ask, but, which one will you choose? Environment or investment for energy?

Under the energy reform agenda – (3 pillars) we have energy security, sustainable energy system (minimum impact to environment), …

Everyone is needing, for now, supply of power – Mindanao will not progress if there is not enough supply of power

o Mau: There are arguments coming up that the power crisis is artificial because there was a released study that the elevation is not lower so the dependable capacity was not optimized. It requires occasional brown outs. There is no power shortage, itʼs just that we have to pay more so that there is electricity. It seems to us that the government is giving the responsibility to the private sector, so the question is, why donʼt we check the laws (flaws, etc.)? EPIRA led to privatization and

 

deregulation. We just want transparency and lesser impact for the consumers.

Government will provide the needed resources. Hydropower resources are not fully utilized because a lot already entered the [power] system—affected by activities outside of the generator. It has to e a total system approach. Even if you fully utilize the high level of water to generate power, the risk is flooding. This is the multiple approach in addressing the problem.

o Gio: Are there ways on how we [AdMU] can involve ourselves, and if there are, what are these concrete ways in which we can help solve this issue?

We need to fully understand on what the problem really is. Efficient utilization of power – avoid wastage. Make use of efficient equipment

• There are a lot of smuggled equipment o Earl: Previously we have experienced 6 hours rotational brown-outs,

and 4 hours rotational brown-outs. I donʼt want to agree with Mau, but there have been no solutions yet. So, my question is, what is the role of DoE in terms of educating the people in whatʼs really happening? Whatʼs happening in Zamboanga now is really highly political.

Information, Education and Communication program of the government

Asking the assistance of media to generate materials on information

Move to come up with English and tagalog materials in each area

We are open to invitation of schools and industries Power patrol – DoE goes to schools for you to understand

how to read your electric meter, teach them on how much devices cost in terms of energy, and efficient practices.