The arrogance of Noynoy Aquino

from Counterpoint by Alvin Capino (Manila Standard Today) Jan 13, 2010
http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/insideOpinion.htm?f=2010/january/13/alvincapino.isx&d=2010/january/13

More often than not, service companies like Meralco are noticed only when they do not do what is expected of them. But when they do their job well, the public takes them for granted.

We mention this because during the holiday season, Metro Manila and other areas in the Meralco service area were brownout free despite the expected high power demand.

Of course Meralco and the National Power Corporation earlier assured the public that there would be no brownouts or blackouts during the holiday season. Still, such declarations are viewed with skepticism; the opposite usually happens.

We hope that Meralco and Napocor will be true to their promise that there will be no brownouts during the coming May 10 elections.

What raises fears that brownouts or even blackouts could happen during the election period was the forecast made by Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes about power supply shortage in 2010 including the election day period.

Power sector officials, however, were surprised at Reyes’ announcement. They were quick to say that the fears raised by Reyes had no basis at all. Reyes was wrong about the gasoline shortage, after all, so he’s also probably wrong in his prediction about the power shortage in May.

For us, the brownout-free holiday season is an indicator of the efficiency in the power sector brought about by new policies implemented by the Energy Regulatory Commission under its new chairman, Zenaida Ducut.

It was under Ducut’s watch that the commission implemented the Performance Based Regulation.

PBR is a regulatory process with a reward and penalty system based on Guarantee Service Level. Every power distribution company is required to maintain a service standard based on fewer occurrences of brownouts, quick response time to restore electric service in case of power interruption, and faster connection time for new customers.

If power distributors like Meralco fail to meet guaranteed service levels set by ERC, they are required to make cash payouts to customers. ERC will only act favourably on power rate adjustment petitions of power distributors if they meet such service standards.

PBR has been in place for about eight months now. Based on the performance of Meralco and other power service providers, the system is working. The commission, particularly Ducut, deserves recognition for this.

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Are we seeing the real Senator Noynoy Aquino in the way he is reacting to questions on his qualifications and record to become President of the Philippines?

His advisers should tell Aquino that he sounded haughty, arrogant and pompous the way he handled the legitimate observation by another presidential candidate, Senator Richard Gordon, who said that it seemed Aquino had not done anything for his home province of Tarlac despite having served as congressman for three terms.

Aquino’s landlord forebears would be proud at his response to Gordon. According to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, “Aquino said he did not think it worthwhile to comment on the remarks of a poll tailender.”

But Aquino should realize that it’s not only Gordon who wants to know what he did for Tarlac in his nine years as congressman, where he even served as Deputy Speaker for Luzon.

The public that he wants to lead as president deserves to know what his record was. He cannot even use the excuse that he was a fiscalizer of the Arroyo administration all the time that he was in the House of Representatives since, as has been pointed out, he served as deputy speaker and he was supportive of the Arroyo administration just as the Arroyo Administration was supportive of him.

Of course we can understand his pique at Gordon’s remarks if he has nothing much to show for his nine-year stint at the House of Representative and his almost three years in the Senate for the province of Tarlac and for Central Luzon.

It would be interesting to see a comparison of what he did with his Countrywide Development Fund and what ex-Defense Secretary Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro, who represented the other district of Tarlac, did with his own fund.

If Aquino did nothing for his district when he was congressman and now as senator, then there are questions on what he promises to do if he becomes President.

Gordon, of course, has all the right to make his observations on Aquino’s qualifications. Gordon has an exemplary record of achievements as mayor of Olongapo City, as Administrator of Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, as chairman of the Philippine National Red Cross and as senator.

It would have been interesting to know what Aquino’s experience and track record are.

He gave a glimpse of his experience when he responded to the questions on his competence raised by Gordon and another presidentiable, Sen. Manny Villar.

According to news reports Aquino, pointed to his experience as a member of a marketing team that made Nike a household name in the country in the mid-80’s.

He said he also helped implement changes in the sugarcane production of his family’s Hacienda Luisita. This is laudable considering that he has repeatedly said that he only has a four-percent share in the controversial large tract of agricultural land subjected to a stock-distribution-option type of land reform, where shares of stocks instead of land were distributed to farmers.

Aquino said he was also proud in his role as fiscalizer as a congressman and as a senator.

Perhaps he or his defenders should explain how he was a fiscalizer during the time when he was deputy speaker.

If Aquino was a fiscalizer of the Arroyo administration then perhaps what Vice Governor Rolex Suplico told us during a radio interview—that Aquino even supported President Arroyo in the first impeachment case against her—is not true.

We would like to think that what Aquino had mentioned as his experience and track record is only partial and we should be expecting an expanded list of his achievements. Only then can we be assured that the country would be in good hands in case he becomes president.