President Gloria Macapagal-arroyo will meet Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes this week to assess DOE’s implementation of her directives on the immediate privatization of power assets and the lowering of power rates.

This was disclosed by Press Secretary and concurrent Presidential Spokesman Ignacio R. Bunye in his column The View from the Palace which comes out tomorrow (Aug. 20).

The president “believes that privatization of activities that can be more efficiently handled by the private sector will not only allow the government to concentrate on its core functions but also help the government meet its deficit targets,” Bunye said

On the other hand, lower power charges will not only benefit the average Filipino family but will also reduce the cost of “doing business in the Philippines and make the country more competitive,” he added.

In her State of the Nation Address (SONA) last July 23, the President urged both houses of Congress to amend the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIR A), particularly the section requiring 70 percent privatization of the power. 

In her SONA, the President said that the Philippines has one of the highest power rates in the region.

Bunye said the Chief Executive will remind Reyes and other DENR officials about her “principal agenda,” namely, the “immediate privatization of power assets, and lowering of power rates.”

Finance Secretary Margarito Teves has echoed the President’s order for speeding up the privatization process, saying that the government’s budget deficit could be lowered by almost P13 billion by the end of 2007 if privatization is carried out alongside strong revenue collection.

He said the sale of the government’s shares in Manila Electric Company (Meralco) and its properties in Fujimi, Japan worth P10-billion and P3-billion, respectively, coupled with partial recoveries of Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and Bureau of Customs (BOC) revenue shortfalls, would greatly help in lowering the budget deficit.

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Braving heavy rains spawned by Typhoon “Egay,” President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo attended the 23^rd anniversary celebration last night of El Shaddai at the Quirino Grandstand at the Luneta in Manila.

Arriving at 10:45 p.m. in time for the 11 p.m.-12 midnight concelebrated mass, the President greeted the multitude of El Shaddai members gathered to mark the birth of the charismatic renewal group.

She also congratulated El Shaddai and its founder, Bro. Mike Velarde, for the victory of the group’s sectoral party, Buhay, which won three seats in the House of Representatives in last May’s election.

Buhay garnered the highest number of votes cast for party list groups in the May polls.

Quirino Grandstand was jampacked with white-clad members of the El Shaddai DXWI Prayer Partners Foundation International Charismatic Movement.

The overflow crowd occupied the road fronting the grandstand, and both lanes of Roxas Blvd., where members encamped with their vehicles and protective tents and umbrellas amid the continuing downpour.

The President stayed on for three hours which was duly noted by Velarde, who praised the Chief Executive for attending the event  “kahit walang eleksiyon (even if there’s no election).”  

Two Catholic bishops and several priests celebrated the mass with 20 seminarians from the San Carlos Seminary and 10 acolytes from Laguna, Cavite and Laguna.

In her impromptu speech following the mass which had Paranaque Bishop Jesse Mercado as main celebrant, the President wished Velarde “kahabaan ng buhay,” and for the religious leader to “laging magtagumpay sa gawaing binigay sa kanya ng Panginoon.”

Velarde turns 68 tomorrow (Aug. 20).

She said it was an honor to attend 16 of the charismatic group’s 23 birthdays despite the “masamang panahon.” She recalled that typhoon signal No. 3 was up when El Shaddai marked its 10^th anniversary in 1993.

The President described Velarde as a “prophet of hope, optimism and love for one another,” noting that her then bed-ridden mother, Dona Eva Macapagal, had asked Velarde to take care of her daughter when he visited her at the hospital where she then lay dying.

The President also told El Shaddai members that “dahil sa mga payo ni Brother Mike, makabuhay ang ating mga patakaran,” citing the scrapping of the death penalty as an example.

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