PH power suppliers aiming for big profits
Malampaya natural gas project in Palawan. When the Malampaya offshore gas project in Palawan underwent a maintenance repair, a power rate hike went berserk thus causing millions of Metro Manila consumers to express worry that the latest burden would impact on their household expenses. The question that lingers in my mind is how come the Manila Electric Company (Meralco), which sources out most of its cheap power supply from Malampaya failed to anticipate the disastrous impacts of the shutdown, knowing full well that this could terribly put millions of financially-hard up consumers on the quagmire? Consumer groups, however, have other complaints to make. Some of them even went out of their way to file a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) before the appropriate courts so that the latest spike in power rates could be averted outright. Likewise, they're putting the blame on the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) for granting the sinister wishes of Meralco to increase the power