PALAG is a movement against the privatization of Agus-Pulangui Hydropower Complexes (APHC) in Mindanao that works to promote and uphold the democratic ownership, access, and control of Mindanaoans to a clean, renewable, and sustainable energy resource.    

PALAG Mindanao is composed of various civil society organizations, people's organizations, local government units, NPC union leaders, consumer groups, consumer alliance, local electric cooperatives, academic professionals, interest groups, and representatives from IP and Moro communities determined to uphold the sustainable use and management of Mindanao’s natural resources and ensure the right of its peoples to participate in the development processes of the region. 

The movement strongly enjoins the public to support its campaign against the privatization of the APHC.  

What is the issue? 

Republic Act No. 9136 otherwise known as the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) of 2001 has set out to reform the electric power industry of the Philippines and ensure a reliable and affordable electric power for all Filipinos. Under the aegis of a free and fair competition towards greater efficiency, privatisation has been one of EPIRA’s main mandates. Unlike majority of the energy resources in Luzon and the Visayas, which has been successfully privatised, APHC, however has been protected through a 10 year moratorium under Section 47(f) that states  

‘The Agus and Pulangui Hydropower Complexes shall be excluded from among the generation companies that will be initially privatized... and that the complexes may be privatized not earlier than ten (10) years from the effectivity of this Act. 

The privatization of Agus and Pulangui complexes shall be left to the discretion of PSALM Corporation and in consultation with Congress.’ 

This moratorium will end on EPIRA’s 10^th year on June 2011 and moves toward privatizing APHC have started. Such moves however, have not been taken sitting down by the peoples of Mindanao given that Agus and Pulangi is a vital natural resource not just as its major source of electricity and water but also because it is the ancestral land of the Maranaos and the Higaonons of Mindanao. The failure of the EPIRA to achieve its mandate in the last 9 years of its implementation and the experiences of people in Luzon and the Visayas do not bode well for what is to happen in Mindanao.  

Around November 2009, the House Joint Resolution No. 51 ‘A Joint Resolution Expressing the Determination and Sense of the Congress of the Philippines to Exempt Agus and Pulangi Hydro Complexes from Privatization,’ as well as the House Resolution no. 1533 ‘Resolution Expressing the Strong Opposition of the House of Representative to the Sale and Privatization of the Agus and the Pulangi Hydroelectric Plant Complexes in Mindanao’ were discussed in both the Lower and Upper Houses of the Philippine Legislature. This legislative measure was welcomed by various stakeholders, including PALAG, who have strongly advocated for extending the moratorium of the privatization process of the Complexes.  

Why do we oppose the privatization? 

The privatization issue of the Agus and Pulangi complexes is not a simple matter of privatizing a commodity. Agus and Pulangi are deeply entwined into the very lives of the tri-people of Mindanao: Christians, Lumads, and Moro. It is not just a source of water, livelihood, and electricity, it is also a sacred ancestral land.  

Economic Costs 

The privatization has economic costs. If we talk about what is most economically beneficial for Mindanao, privatization of the complexes is not it. The argument of promoting efficiency does not hold water in the case of APHC. The government is not losing by running it and in fact it is earning from it because hydropower is low-cost generation. The government does not need to privatize it to bring it to its ‘true price’ because it is already in its ‘true price.’ In fact what the privatization will do is drive the cost of power in Mindanao. For the past ten years since the passage of EPIRA we have witnessed a series of rates increases as a consequence of privatization. The higher the winning bidder bids, the higher the cost of electricity the winning bidder will naturally seek to recover through rates increases. 

Investment, production and development in Mindanao will greatly be affected. One of the major advantages in doing business in Mindanao is the low cost of electricity due to the hydropower plants which are cheaper and have low operation costs but higher rates of return. To transfer the control and ownership of these hydropower plants to private corporations will remove this very important comparative advantage from the people of Mindanao.  

Currently, Mindanao has a competitive advantage compared to Luzon and Visayas. As of January 2010, the NPC effective rate on basic generation charge per grid in Luzon is at PhP 4.36 per kilowatt hour, PhP3.7255/kwh in Visayas, and the lowest is Mindanao with PhP 2.817/kwh.  

Social Costs 

The ancestral domain issue is central to this argument. Lake Lanao is where Agus is and is the ancestral domain of the Maranaos. The Pulangui river, on the other hand, is home to the Higaonon, Talaandig and Pulangiyon tribes.  The complexes is part of the commons and therefore the collective rights of Mindanaoans must be upheld and protected. 

This is also an issue of exclusion. As in the past, local stakeholders and the public are not aware and are not included in processes that directly affect them, may it be on privatization or the discussion of institutional arrangements best for the sustainable use and management of natural resources. The targeted privatization is feared to result into conflict and further exclusion of local stakeholders from the process of decision making and benefit sharing.  

Impact to the Peace Process 

Agus is within the area of Muslim Mindanao and moves to privatize it without taking into consideration the current peace process between the GRP and the MILF may complicate the negotiations and negatively impact the conclusion of the peace talks.   

What are we advocating? 

PALAG strongly supports the call for a moratorium of the privatization of the APHC for another 10 years and the amendment of the EPIRA to:

a.   Exclude APHC from privatization

b.  Promote an alternative institutional arrangement model of the energy sector of Mindanao that ensures people’s collective rights are upheld and promoted and that the energy resources of Mindanao is used and managed in a sustainable manner bounded by the principles of sustainable development and social justice.

c.   Establishment of a Mindanao Hydropower Corporation

The additional 10-year moratorium will be used to conduct inclusive consultations among stakeholders to craft the aforementioned recommendations.

Signatories:

PALAG Mindanao members

1.  Association of Lanao Gender and Development Advocates  (ALAGAD), Inc.

2.  Alternate Forum for Research in Mindanao (AFRIM)

3.  Association of Consumers of Electricity in Bukidnon (ACE Bukidnon)

4.  Bukidnon IP Provincial Consultative Body

5.  Consortium of Bangsamoro Civil Society (CBCS)

6.  Consumers Alliance, Misamis City

7.  CSO Forum for Peace, Inc.,

8.  CSSH / MSU Marawi

9.  Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC)

10.  International Alert

11.  Kalimudan Foundation Inc. (KFI)

12.  Konsumanteng Kagay-anon, Inc.,

13.  Lanao Power Consumers' Federation (LAPOCOF)

14.  LGU Maramag, Bukidnon

15.  LGU Valencia, Bukidnon

16.  LGU Quezon, Bukidnon

17.  MSU / IPDM

18.  NAPOCOR Employees Consolidated Union (NECU)

19.  NAPOCOR Employees and Workers Union (NEWU)

20.  NORMECA / AMRECO (coalition of local electric cooperatives in  Mindanao)

21.  Partidong Manggagawa (PM)

22.  PKKK Malaybalay (Alliance of Urban and Rural Women in Bukidnon- PKKK, Malaybalay)

23.  Social Action Center, Diocese of Malaybalay