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Arroyo’s Energy Summit turns
into Energy Sabit – Bayan
February 5, 2008
Reference: Arnold Padilla, Bayan public information department
(0926-6246061)
Umbrella group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) said that the Energy
Summit organized by the Arroyo government has turned into an “Energy Sabit”
for lack of credibility, urgency, and boldness to address the people’s
most pressing concerns about abnormally high and escalating oil prices.
Bayan and its allied organizations held a protest rally today at the SMX
Convention Center in Pasay City, the summit’s venue.
“The pubic gained nothing from this extravagant show by the Department of
Energy”, said Arnold Padilla of Bayan’s public information department.
“Instead, the people will be burdened with more foreign debts that will be
used to facilitate the increased foreign plunder of our energy resources”,
he maintained.
The group noted that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is providing an
initial $30 million in loans to finance energy efficiency projects in the
country. The amount is on top of the expected $200 million that the ADB
plans to invest in renewable energy next year.
“It is the height of hypocrisy that the DOE allotted a ‘listening and
hearing’ pre-summit while its secretary declared that the organizers do
not intend to address the problem of high oil prices”, according to
Padilla. He said that the people have been long clamoring to bring down
and control petroleum prices but the government simply refuses to listen
and hear the people’s urgent demands.
Bayan said that the results of the summit have already been pre-determined
by the ADB, making the whole exercise of consultation with various
stakeholders practically worthless. “How can we expect proposals such as
lifting the 12% VAT on oil and the repeal of the Oil Deregulation Law to
be seriously considered in the summit, when the event’s funders led by the
ADB have been the same foreign creditors that pushed for these measures?”
Padilla asked.
The group said that while the country must pursue the development of
alternative, renewable, and indigenous energy sources, experience with
past energy programs show that it should not be pursued within the narrow
framework of foreign investment promotion. It cited the power sector
reform, a major ADB program in the country since the 1990s, which only
resulted in onerous power supply contracts, corruption-laden privatization
projects, and exorbitant electricity bills.
Bayan vowed to continue its pressure on Congress to lift the 12% oil VAT
to immediately bring down oil prices and to repeal the Oil Deregulation
Law to control unjustified price increases. (END)
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