Former Rep. Zenaida Ducut, from Lubao, Pampanga to be named chair of the Energy Regulatory Commission.
A month back, we wrote: “When the replacement of (Energy Regulatory chair) Rodolfo Albano is named next month, we have one question to ask. How is the WACC calculated? If he could not provide an answer, thats it. Its bayad utang time, and to hell with power users.”
The background for that piece is the need for people at the ERC who must have an understanding of the complicated business of determining power rates based on cost of power generation, transmission and distribution plus some reasonable profit.
During the Senate hearings on the high power rates paid by the customers of Meralco, Albano said a) that it was news to him that Meralco was charging its own power consumption to consumer in the form of “systems loss” and b) that he was in the dark about the alleged sweetheart deals between Meralco and Lopez-owned generating companies.
WACC (weighted average cost of capital) was mentioned because it has replaced RORB (return on rate base) as the formula for calculating the reasonable rate of profit of a utility like Meralco. Our point is that somebody who has no idea of how the WACC using higher calculus – is arrived at has no business sitting at the ERC.
Yesterday, we heard Senators Nene Pimentel and Chiz Escudero on radio saying Gloria Arroyo was seriously considering former Rep. Zenaida Ducut as Albanos replacement. The two senators scoffed at the qualifications of Ducut, saying she was a bar flunker.
Pimentel and Escudero are both accomplished lawyers (the former served as Law dean of Xavier University; the latter got his masters from Georgetown University), so it is understandable for them to look down their noses at one who did not pass the bar the first time around. Ducut, however, must have eventually made it, although we have no idea after how many tries, because the chair of the ERC is required by the law to be a member of the bar.
On further checking, we found in an old web entry on Ducut that she took up Political Science and then Law at Far Eastern University. In her career history, we also found that she had been a professor at the University of the Assumption, East Central Colleges and Harvardian Colleges.
We also saw that on her third and last term as a member of the House, she was vice chairman of the committee on agriculture and member of the committees on bases conversion, games and amusement and inter-parliamentary relations.
There is no record showing she was a member of the committee on energy, the chairmanship of which was bagged without effort by her successor, Rep. Mikey Arroyo, in his first term.
Ducuts qualifications for ERC chairman are truly underwhelming.
But she comes from Lubao, Pampanga, and that, we suppose, is the single credential necessary to serve in an important position in this administration.
Related stories:
http://www.malaya.com.ph/jul11/news2.htm
The huge kurakot from the energy sector/industry is already secure in the pockets of Mikey.
Gloria Econ 101….secure the allocations!
There goes Pinas…going, going, going…GONE!
The quality of appointments depends on the one appointing.
Anyway, in spite of the Small One, GOOD DAY, EVERYONE!
How’s Ellenville, today? ‘hope you’re still alright.
For whatever it’s worth, the Mayor of London had dropped by our Philippine Resistance Movement wiki. His greetings is at the bottom of the homepage. I also would like to say thank you to all those who joined the wiki from this blog.
It’s an honor.
Appointing Ducut who’s jueteng lord Bong Pineda’s lawyer is in preparation for 2010. Bong Pineda not only has never been charged and convicted of illegal gambling business, he continues to operate in Central Luzon. The Evil Bitch needs to continue making Bong happy.
Omigawd! Another mandu-DUCUT!
Check my monthly electricity bill and found out the system loss charge by the Generators, not the distributor is 3.75% and the Debt Retirement charge for 1203 kWhs for 6l days is $8.12 , which is the equivalent of .006 cents per kWh for the total Debts by the Generators that is wholly owned by the Province.
Charges is 5 cents per kWh up to 1000 and 5.9 after for residential..save 10% from last year usage and get some prizes. Distributors charge separately for Delivery Charges, which is approx about another 5 cent per kWh.
Never take a second look at our electricity bill until been told by my relatives that they are paying almost half the minimum wage for their monthly electricity bills and charging them on Me. Yak…
Ha!ha!ha! Di bale, Vic…marami ka namang datung diyan sa Canada.
I don’t know if you guys are experiencing the same problem with The Tribune online…
Charlie “Atong” Ang, a co-accused in the plunder case filed against deposed President Joseph Estrada, has been hired as a consultant for a local gaming company operating in Cavite.
Sabi ni Chiz Escudero ay hindi nakikita sa kita ng BIR at BOC ang nakokolektang 12% VAT sa lahat ng oil products.
Ayon daw sa gobyerno ni Gloriang Korap ay tumataas ang koleksyon sa VAT at meron sila na P18.6 bilyon na windfall. Tanong ni Chiz, kung ganun pala, “nasaan na ba ‘yung sinasabi nilang windfall?”
Imahinasyon lang ba ang sinasabing windfall? Kung hindi ito totoo ay saan daw humuhugot ng pondo ang ninang Gloria niya
para sa mga subsidiya nito sa “Katas ng VAT”?
“Is the President marketing and milking a fund source that is non-existent? (source: Abante)
Naku naman Chiz, nagtanong ka pa. Alam mo tiyak ang pinaggagawa ng ninang mo. Don’t ask others for the sake of press release. Mas alam mo kung meron windfall o wala. Mag imbistiga ka kung hindi mo alam at ibulgar mo sa amin. Sige, gawin mo at baka i-consider kita, kung ok si Sonny. heheh!
Sori, dun pala sa loop ng VAT ang post ko.
That’s also one of the biggest defects that I find in EPIRA. What business do lawyers have in regulating a huge technology-based industry? Of course, decisions must be legal but that is not the primordial concern in energy regulation.
It must be a balance of: 1)the varying interests of producers and distributors which are mainly profit-centered; against 2) the capacity of the paying consumers in the residential, commercial, and industrial sectors and government itself as an energy consumer; as well as 3) fair taxation of the whole industry to generate reasonable government revenues without sacrificing any one sector.
Basic requirements, therefore, call for higher levels of competence in Engineering, Economics and Finance with minimal requisites in terms of aptitude in Law. But all critical organizations, whether private or public, either hire lawyers on retainers, or organize one in-house.
This is but one of the less glaring defects of EPIRA, the worse ones being:
– the limiting of unbundled items to those appearing in our electric bills today while HIDING take-or-pay charges NAPOCOR passes through the distributors and those take-or-pay charges contracted by the distributors themselves.
– fixing the phasing-down of systems loss charges so that the last percentage reduction ended in 2007 at 9.5%. The framers of the law should have brought this down further to 5-7% and provided for a mechanism that will promote apprehension of pilferers.
Otherwise, the EPIRA was a finely-crafted world-class law our legislators would have been proud of. But you see, the elites’ interests and tongpats always get the upper hand.
Nakakanerbiyos ang pangalan nitong bagong chairman. Ducut! Dyusko, baka naman puro dukot lang ang gawin niyan. Namputsa, nahiya pa. Bakit hindi na lang kasi si Endika Aboitiz o kaya si Winston Garcia, o Tom Alcantara?
Tutal garapalan na rin lang naman.
This is probably Arroyo’s payment to Ducut for giving in to Mikey Arroyo for the congressional seat in Pampanga.
Ganyan kapag masunurin ka sa mga Arroyo. Richly rewarded.
Arroyo is making a mockery of institutions just to consolidate here power. Kawawang Pilipinas.
I agree, Gabriela. Over in Pampanga, the local mayors are ganging up on Gov. Panlilio. Who do you think ordered these mayors to go against Panlilio?
Instead of resigning from the government at height of the ZTE scandal, Neri now accepts his new post at SSS. His reply to his critics: “I’m qualified”. Of course he’s qualified to lead SSS…Sex, Sex, Sex…Suck, Suck, Suck.
So, Neri is going to head SSS. Why? It’s because he has proved himself “loyal” to the piggies, who must have awarded him biggie-biggie money from the treasury, etc., and of course, positions such as this SSS assignment. Lalong nakawan ang labas niyan. This guy with a mouth curbed like a chicket puwit will no doubt cooperate with his bosses in draining the SSS dry! Gago din iyong mga magko-confirm sa utu-utong iyan. Nak ng pating talaga!!!
Ooops, chicken puwit pala!
Yuko,
SSS chair C. dela Paz in her radio interview said that the media should watched closely SSS. Yes, very possible that sheman Neri might deliver all SSS goods to her korap amo Gloria for political use. Ngayon pa na pinalulusot siya ng Supreme Court mismo!
Neri is being avoided like a plague by everyone in the professional sector. So he can’t do anything but go to any post Gloria makes available for him. And I don’t think this gay person is ready to work outside of Gloria. Nagkakalat pa at tuluyan ng nahawahan ng toxic ni Gloria. Kung ngumawa ang talanding iyan, e di skandalo na namang malaki. Kaya ayan binubusalan ng kahit ano!
There’s a report that Ducut failed the Bar Exam four times.
Iyong panglima siguro, dinaan na lang sa suhol nang mauso ang pagbabayad doon sa nagbibigay ng bar exam, medical board exam, at iba pa gaya noong mga nandaya sa nursing exam.
Any appointee ni Omama dapat hindi na kino-confirm pa at saka hindi sinusuwelduhan hangga’t di confirm parang gaya din iyan halimbawa na hindi puwedeng mag-function ang isang ambassador hangga’t di naa-accredit. Ganyan sana. At saka iyong COMELEC halimbawa na walang silbi, dapat ina-abolish na iyan at isipin na lamang na ipalakad sa isang internal affairs or legal bureau para lang ma-assure na malinis ang magiging eleksyon na sa totoo lang ay hindi naman ginagawa araw-araw. Ang mamamahal pa ng suweldo ng mga Commissioner na batugan naman at mahilig lang mangurakot para sa nagpaupo sa kanila. Kaya hayan, palpak kailanman!!!
Nan-Ducut na lang ng diploma sa Recto para may nakabitin sa dinding ng bahay.
“The SSS has P234 billion of investments in equities and government IOUs. The word going around is that Gloria wants to use part of the funds to bankroll her dole-out programs. In fact, we would not be surprised if Dela Paz resigned (was fired?) because of her opposition to divert SSS funds.” -Malaya editorial
***
A day will come when even SSS pensioners will not get their pensions. With Romy Neri who has no cojones, mas maraming matatandang lalong magkakamatay sa kunsumisyon!
Sarap ng buhay ni Neri. Lahat ng board na inuupuan ni Dela Paz na may investment ang SSS, kakabig si Neri ng per diem tuwing may monthly board meeting. In San Miguel Corp. for example, SSS has one seat represented by the SSS Chairman. In the 80’s, a board member gets P1Million per board meeting, it could be much bigger now. Kaya nga nung panahon ni Cory, palakasan kung sino ang maaapoint na PCGG Commissioner sa SMC dahil sa laki ng per diem.
Multiply that with SSS investments in other banks, GOCCs, and big corporations both here and abroad.
Jackpot si Bading! Pwede na niyang kitain ng legal yung “two hundred” ni Abalos.
I am not comfortable though that Gloria has placed the SSS Chairmanship under the Office of the President. We all know that the purpose of that is to extend executive privilege to Neri’s new position. What we don’t know is if it is legal. There is this new task force supposedly created by Gloria for “Social Welfare” and has appointed Neri to head it too. This is a mere duplication of DSWD and circumvention of the law against multiple appointments to favor the unwritten statute on executive privilege.
Further, the SSS is a private workers’ fund held in trust by government as its administrators only. The fake president cannot therefore put under her office a private institution unless it is covered by sequestration or a court order, or by legislation. Isn’t that unconstitutional?
What do our house lawyers say?
Mahirap baka ma-SSS yung pera natin diyan. (SSS = Sisikwatin ni Super Swapang)
Wala man lang ba na magagawa dito ang Senado? Gloria has turned a private SSS into a department under the Executive making Nerissa a cabinet member, again. Di ba kailangan merong say ang Senado sa creation ng departmento. Where does the check and balance come in? O talagang wala lang?!
Ang galing ng Editorial ng Inquirer tungkol kay Neri. Eto ang ending sentences:
His new appointment will always be seen as the President’s counteroffer of patriotic money. “Sec, may SSS ka dito.”
Nerissa…ha, ha…I like that name! Nerisssa is better with 3 S as in SSS.
Chi: A day will come when even SSS pensioners will not get their pensions.
******
Pinawiwili naman kasi ng mga pilipinong hindi naman kasi sanay ng community lawsuit. Pati sa pagdedemanda kasi ang hirap ibuklod ng mga matitigas ang ulo. Ang hilig kasing magdunung-dunungan, bugok naman ang mga ulo! Pathetic? Sinabi mo pa!
Tignan mo nga ang nangyari doon sa CAP. Mukhang himutok na lang yata ang mga naging biktima. Same with the OWWA funds, etc. na kinurakot ni Gloria Dorobo. Golly, wala pa ring pumipiyak! Racket dito, racket doon tuloy ang ginagawa ng mga ungas.
Tama iyong outgoing SSS boss. Ingatan ang perang natitira sa SSS na kahit noon naman palpak din sa totoo lang. Nakakagulat nga. How can these crooks get away with it?
Oo nga ano, bitchevil. NeriSSSa!
“How can these crooks get away with it?” – Yuko
Because the ‘governed’ allow them! And I thought Pinas is a Republic! (Banana Republic nga pala).
I guess iyan ang sinasabi ni Neri na qualification niya sa SSS, puedeng ikabit sa pangalan niya to make it NeriSSSa! Ang kapal din ano?
What was that syndrome called?…. the one where the victim gets to like the kidnappers? Was that the case of Patty Hearst?
In the case of Romy Nerrisssa (remember to roll your rrrrs, and pronounce “sssa” as “thha”), he/she has gotten to like the faces of his favorite “booty capitalists” — Endika Aboitiz, Enrique Razon and ——-. Afterall, who can resist the charms of the “muy sympatico caballeros”! Even now, he must be trying to learn how to use the Castillan language, the preferred lingua for hatching deals.
Puñeta sila, MrG. Mga hijos de puta del coño de Pidal. Mapapaltos an mana daliri del hijos por que kakapalo con golf clubs haban pinamamasdan ni Nerissa los masculados na mana puwit – booty – en Ingles. Intiendes?
Exacto, Señor Tet, na-Stockholm Syndrome na si La Mujer Nerissa. Ahihihi….
For the record, before she became the chairperson of erc, she’s the usec of dept. of energy, the late Angelo Reyes was the sec of D of E. for my own opinion, she’s fit on her position right now, she deserves it. Keep it up Cabalen!