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Leave It To Pete ...

... to get the words eloquently right on the Meralco Monopoly issue.

"The letter is making a mockery of the ERC and its existence as a regulator. Malacañang has no authority to decide on the issue of competition. It is the height of arrogance on the part of Meralco not to recognize the authority of the ERC."
- Pete Ilagan

I had drafted something along these lines, though not nearly so punchy, and dropped it in favor of a different approach.

Pete, I'm convinced, is just using satire to make some very important points - and I'm not sure everyone is listening appropriately.

"Let them eat cake!"

The Cantanduaneños know the score and where to send letters too.

"Admiration"

Jove is talking sisig today.

Oh yeah, baby.

Meralco Monopoly

Actually, Abigail Ho had a pretty good follow-up article in the Inquirer today, I thought.

I am completely unconnected to the Meralco-Government deal. That's probably good; I can comment on it without conflict. But I also haven't even seen the letter sent by Meralco to GMA. So let me be clear, I'm not exactly in the loop on this.

Here's the setup: The "end of Meralco monopoly" referred to in this article was actually promulgated in the EPIRA law (Electric Power Industry Reform Act) enacted in 2001. And it's only a partial lifting of their monopoly - they retain, for a good while, a monopoly on most of the services they are providing today.

Today, all distrubution utilities have a monopoly on virtually all elecctric service within their franchise area. That is, no one else can supply you electricity but the local distribution utlility. They provide the wires for delivering the electricity to your door. They procure and provide the electricity itself (from bulk suppliers or generating plants) and they do all the billing.

After certain conditions are met in the industry restructuring under EPIRA, the ERC is to allow large industrial customers - those with an electric demand of 1 MW or more - to seek power supply from alternative power suppliers (generators). But they still must use the local utilities wires and billing services. We call this "retail access" or "retail competition".

About 70% of your electric bill is associated with this "supply" as opposed to the "wires and billing" stuff. Now you can start to see why we had to go through unbundling which resulted in your bill having so many line items on it today.

For reference, a 1 MW load is roughly equivalent to 50 or so large, air conditioned homes (I may be off on this a bit - so feel free to correct me). Over a number of years, the size of a load that is permitted to seek alternative suppliers is lowered until eventually any Tom, Dick, or Harry can shop for his electricity supply (but not his wires needs).

Almost all the conditions are just about met for this first step in retail access except for one big elephant - the privatization of 75% of Napocor's generating assets.

So I presume that the gist of the "unconditional offer" is that Meralco is willing to let this first step toward retail access (allowing 1 MW loads to be contestable) go foward even without the necessary privatization of 75% of the Napocor assets.

If that's that's the case, then indeed there seems to remain the issue of getting around the EPIRA mandate for 75%.

Update: I've made an even more geeky observation over on my other blog.

Damn!

I've been kind of hiding behind a tree since I saw the article on "Meralco monopoly over" and now MLQ3 calls me out.

I'm boarding a delayed PAL flight in SFO as I type and don't have time to fully respond. But this is a bit of political hype. When I hit the ground in Davao I'll have more to say.

Update I'm now blogging from the PAL lounge in Manila waiting on my Davao flight, but writing the response to this is taking longer than I thought. Maybe tomorrow.

SFO Manila

I fly SFO to Manila about three times a year, on average. And every time I eat at at Osho at the Philippine Air Lines end of the International Termimal. I'm eating my usual shashimi now with a glass of chardonnay as I'm connected to the internet through T-Mobile's wireless day pass for $10.

Thanks to a PAL screwup up that failed to recognize two SFO-MNL flights I took in December 2005, I've lost my privilege of Mabuhay check-in and Mabuhay lounge when travelling coach (which I am this time) So I had to camp out at the front of the coach class line to make sure I had an aisle seat.

But that's fine. I still had a nice chat with a certain Dr. Yap who is making his annual pilgramage to the Visayas for about three months to provide, pro bono, medical care to people in the provinces. He gave me a great strory of his family's experiences throughout Philippine history since 1901 when his grandfather, an American, came to the Philippines to teach.

You know, people have amazing stories to tell. It's great to hear them.

Coffee Business

I stopped by The Coffee Works in Sacramento this afternoon to pick up a couple of pounds of fresh roasted coffee to bring back to Davao.

The owner happened to be in and joined in the conversation I was having trying to decide which beans and roast to get. He said something about his roaster, about which I asked some further quesitons so he took me back to show me the thing.

The green coffee was stacked up against the wall in the standard 70 kilogram burlap bags. I found out that roasters are sized by how much of a bag they can roast at one time. His was a 1/2 bag roaster - that's about 75 pounds; sounds like a lot to me.

He told me the name of the guy who patented this baby and where it was manufactured - but I forgot the details. And, most important, I forgot to ask my guide his name. Gee.

In these large roasters, the hot air flow keeps the beans completely suspended to prevent burning and the process has the side benefit of blowing away the junk (my word, not his, for husks and dirt) so it too doesn't scorch and give a bad flavor to the bean - something smaller and home roasters are only partiallly able to do.

He said the secret in this business is to maintain a good volume so that you can continually have freash product. He said he does a lot of wholesale bulk business - not because he likes doing it, but it enables him to keep his volume up and product fresh.

Why Davao

A number of my business associates in Manila have asked why I located in Davao. There's no one answer - but Ria at My Davao points to some of the reasons others love it in Davao.

Let me highlight this one:

Anyone can walk into Marco Polo or Waterfront Insular Hotel in shorts and slippers and still be treated with respect.

That will not happen in Manila where discrimination is rampant.

Is that important to me? Yeah. It is.

And I'll add one: Every other (at a minimum) taxi driver in Manila is trying to scam you in some way. In Davao - it just doesn't happen. At all. Zilch. Nada. I've never had a problem with a taxi driver here. I'm sure it does; but my experience gives you an idea of its frequency.

Pomme and Kelly

Check it out. Go babies go.

Googleidol.

55 year olds DO NOT own what's happening on the internet. Not even close.

Pinoy Web 2.0

Yuga asks whether the Pinoy is ready for Web 2.0.

I about spewed my coffee - because the real question is whether Web 2.0 is ready for the Pinoy!

But seriously, what happens when all those Ragnarok users (aka corporate strategy gurus-in-training) focus their attention on ...?? well whaterever it is, it'll be notable and cool.

Liberalism in the Philippines

This is a concept I can get behind and support and not, presumably, put my Philippine visa in jeopardy. I just ran across Ronald Meinardus' writings and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberal Politics in the Philippines.

While I'm at it - I am also pleased to find that Davao Councilor Peter Laviña is not only blogging but is a really good blogger. I happen to like what I've read so far.

By the way - the talk about dictatorship in the U.S. just won't die down.

Connectedness

I don't really know how best to express my thoughts at the moment - so I'm just going to step out there and make a statement to try to chip away at it.

Someone close to me suffers from a severe bi-polar disorder. It is painful to watch a young person trying to deal with this and function like he so wants to function.

Everything in this post is understated. And you can make what you will with the title.

Power and Progress

This quote was on my mind five years ago. I offer it up again today without comment. The context is yours for the choosing.

Power concedes nothing without a demand.
It never has, and it never will.
If there is no struggle, there is no progress.
Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet deprecate agitation are men who
want crops without plowing the ground. They want rain without thunder and
lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its waters.
-- Frederick Douglass --

Sunofagun

Ernie Mosteller is from Georgia! - or at least went to school there.

I just knew there was something about that boy I liked.

Bet Ernie can read this.

The Rules Are Different

Life Beyond Code got me to thinking today about the difference in Succeeding and Thriving. 

You don't have to be the best to be successful in life.

But if you want to thrive, really thrive, then the game is different. The rules are different.  Good becomes the enemy of the Best.

And I would add that being successful isn't a requirement for thriving. Thriving is a journey, a modus operandi.  It may be a good strategy for obtaining success - but it's a payoff in and of itself, regardless.

I Feel Better Already

Hmmm.... Even Dr. David Weinberger opens every now and then with a misplaced modifier.

Being Online Matters

Stella Estremera, Editor-in-Chief of the Davao Sun Star, has a wonderful and important cover story in today's Sun Star Davao newspaper. It shows so clearly how damn f*cking complex the issues are in supporting indigenous peoples in Mindanao.

Lots of people throughout the world would want to be able to find and read this piece. But if you don't subscribe to the broadsheet, you won't see it! This story won't get beyond certain residents of Davao City. Of all the articles they put on-line, this is not one of them.

I don't understand. It's so easy to put stuff on-line today. I feel it's so important, I just want to re-type the whole thing and post it myself. The insights of Norma Gonoz, director of the Institute of Indigenous Peoples Education, though sumewhat subtly expressed, are worth their weight in gold.

She talks (warns) about giving children access to education that will eventually just exploit them.

Chew on that one for a while.

Allrightmightyfine

Yuga points to another "PLDT reading blogs incident."

Attention of the Crowd

I'm reading what Phil Wendly and Doc Searls are saying today about Attention and Intention, and it dawns on me what the real value of a real estate listing might be (or a Craig's List). It's not so much in linking a particular buyer and seller - that's a one-off deal.

But what if someone captured, and made available, informtion on what was being eyeballed! What listings are being viewed the most, what are the common characteristics of those popular listings?

Now that insight could be extremely profitable in various different ways.

It's kind of like the Attention of the Crowd ... er ... Intention of the Crowd ... whatever.

Pi Day

I'm always letting it slip by ... this year I'm reminding everyone a few days in advance.

Tuesday is Pi Day.

Internet and Filipino Culture

This is what my wife tell me ...

Back in the 80's & 90's (maybe even before) Filipinas with American husbands had to live with the generally accepted public perception that she met her husband in a bar - regardless of what the actual circumstances were.

Now, with so many Filipinas meeting foreign husbands through the internet - which doesn't carry the same social stigma as bars - the negative connotations of an American husband simply don't exist anymore - regardless of what the actual circumstances are.

I didn't meet my wife in a bar or on the internet - but the negative stigma (to her character) of having me tagging along is gone nevertheless.  Saved by new technology!

Goodyear Gets It

Ron Castro, Marketing Director Goodyear Philippines takes the time to sit down to an interview with a BLOGGER!! 

How cool is that? 

I wonder if this is indicative of the culture throughout Goodyear or just the unique sense of a bright young marketing director.

Anti-Arroyo Events

Today, on the 20th anniversary of the 1986 People Power revolution, the current President of the Philippines has declared a State of Emergency due to alleged coup activity in and around Manila.

Here's INQ7's running account of anti-Arroyo events.

Here's the text of the Proclamation.

Rizalist, who was arrested on the first day martial law was declared by Marcos in 1927, pens words that remind us this is not just paper waiving. People are being arrested and who knows what else.

MyDSL Hell

I'm going to be a millionaire in the this country if companies like PLDT can run such sucky customer service as they do at myDSL.

In the spirit of Jeff Jarvis' Dell Hell saga ...

I went to their Customer Support Inquiry page. When I submitted the email form with my issue, the email bounced back with this message:

Final-Recipient: rfc822;customercare@pldtdsl.net
Action: failed
Status: 5.7.1

So I went to their hompage and clicked on the Customer Support link at the bottom and got this message:

You are not authorized to view this page

Yeah sure, you could mark it up to careless web management. But my conclusion: They don't want to be bothered. They just don't care.

Looking for Technical Aides

If you are in Davao and are capable of providing part-time assistance on consulting engagements in the energy sector, let me know. And send me a CV.

I'm building a diverse network of contacts with various types of capabilities - typically college graduates of any age, sex, religion, or ethnicity. Typical capabilities would be in engineering, accounting, law, and economics and/or with strong analytical skills using spreadsheets.

At this time I am primarily building a network of contacts. If you represent a resource group - such as an NGO or a segment of a college - that works too.

To understand more about my business and business philosophy, visit http://asianenergyadvisors.com

Southern Leyte

Here's an image showing the general area where the recent landslides took place - and it's relation to Davao City and Manila.

Maasin is the provincial capital for Southern Leyte. It's about 250 air miles from Davao.

Wireless Updates - Philippines

Philipppine Airline's Mabuhay Lounge in Davao City no longer offers free wi-fi. I guess it was offered just during ASEAN Tourism Forum.

Worse, the provider at PALs Manila lounge (also not free) is different than the provider at their Davao lounge. How stupid is that?

Still no wireless at The Richmonde.

Internet cafes regularly let you just connect up your laptop - no pricey wireless needed. That's the route I've been going.

Blogging and EDSA I

At Asian Energy Advisors this morning I talk about the "authority" of weblogs.

But how so much more vividly does Ellen Tordesillas relate this concept of peer-to-peer communication this morning in Malaya as she quotes from one of her interviews with Fidel Ramos regarding EDSA I

“In the case of Balbas, he got so many orders to fire, fire, fire.

The Rangers, they only got so far because many of their young officers started to defect to our side. Why?

Because their fathers, who were on our side were calling them up to tell the real story. That changed their minds. If not their fathers, classmates of their fathers who are on our side. And classmates started calling up classmates. If not classmates to classmates, mothers were calling up their sons who were young officers.

It's not the technology; it's the peer-to-peer communication that it enables that is so important.

14th - That Special Day

Valentine's Day is great day for the special ladies in our lives.

But don't forget March 14th - the corresponding day for the guys which is now being officially recognized, I understand, as Steak and Blowjob Day.

ADB Swallows Medicine?

Go Figure interestingly points to an article on internal corruption. And suggests the ADB has had to swallow some of thier own medicine. Frankly, it wasn't clear to me that they swallowed anything.

And if their focus "this year will be the abuse of staff benefits such as rental subsidies, dependency allowances and educational benefits," it seems hugely misplaced.