Senator JV Ejercito will seek an inquiry that will dig deeper into the possible collusion between power producers in power rate hike.
Sen. Ejercito, who is the chairman of the Senate Committee on Economic Affairs, said the Malampaya shutdown could be just a ploy to cover up the simultaneous requests of power producers for power rate hike.
The minority senator said a Senate inquiry is necessary to uncover the truth and prevent these abusive power generators from imposing their will at the expense of consumers.
“The Senate inquiry should be conducted to protect the consumers from the abuse of big businesses,” Sen. Ejercito said.
Sen. Ejercito added that there could be a concerted effort among the power producers to push for the unscheduled shutdown of eight power plants for them to have a reason to hike the power rates.
The young legislator from San Juan said most of the big-time power producers are owned by businessmen who are believed to be Malacañang allies.
He said a possible conspiracy could be happening in power rate increases among the power producers and even the Department of Energy (DOE) is trying look at the unplanned shutdowns.
Sen. Ejercito said both the DOE and Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) should explain why they failed to set up measures that should have cushioned the impact of the power hike. The unplanned shutdowns happened at plants covered by the San Lorenzo, Masinloc 1, GN Power 1, Masinloc 2, Ilijan 1, Ilijan 2, GN Power 2, Calaca 1 and Calaca 2.
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PRESS RELEASE
Reference: Rikki Mathay
