It has been said repeatedly in this column, the way in which electric power – an essential in daily life – is so poorly delivered, with substandard infrastructure in place and, despite inferior service, the local electricity cooperative, the Central Negros Electric Cooperative, Inc. (Ceneco) continues to believe they are, according to their website, “committed to deliver the highest quality services.”
The act of providing electricity is a basic service, what makes it “quality” is when it is reliable, which, with the frequency of brownouts, it is not. 
However, in the end, administration after administration – in terms of both presidential and mayoral – nothing is ever done in improving the delivery of a basic commodity. Billions have been invested in renewable energy plants, both solar and biomass, with little to no contribution; power is still limited and brownouts continue to occur regularly.
Last March, Cadiz City Mayor Patrick Escalante boasted, “It supplies [a] huge part of the province’s average power demand” describing the solar farm, located at Hacienda Paz, in the city’s Barangay Tinampaan.
He also characterized its establishment as “our country’s ability to develop world-class renewable energy projects.”
“World-class?” Perhaps from the outward appearance it looks world-class, but when the average citizen is still dealing with an inability to get work done and facing delays, or students are unable to properly study because of an ongoing failure to deliver electricity on a consistent basis, that is not “world-class.”
There is this idea among politicians where they believe they can say anything and the public will just absorb it as gospel. Most, if not all, elected officials have had the pleasure of traveling abroad and seeing what it is like in other countries, yet they come home and portray intermittent electricity as the global standard – or as the Cadiz City mayor calls it, “world-class.”
Most of the public would not say they were ignorant, yet the people they elect babble, under the impression, the people lending an ear know nothing about anything and are just vessels to gather partisan propaganda and political self-promotion.
It was stated in a previous column, 20 years living in the New Jersey, in the United States, and, in that time, only faced two instances when the power went out; in 2003, from the massive blackout that struck several states, along with the Canadian province of Ontario, caused by a malfunction by the FirstEnergy Corporation, and in 2012, during Hurricane Sandy, also known as Superstorm Sandy, when electricity was knocked out for three days.
Just under five years in Bacolod City and that number has multiplied exponentially.
Not to mention, with Ceneco scheduling blackouts for “maintenance,” never once did the local New Jersey power company, Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G), make such an excuse and, pretty sure, they conducted regular maintenance activity.
Yet, as demonstrated by the way politicians talk and the lack of action when it comes to real innovations in attaining dependable electric power, those in elected office want the public to believe the status quo is “the way things are.” They lean on a perceived ignorance among the populace, believing the average voter is unaware other countries do not experience these kind of power interruptions – except for impoverished, third world countries, which those in office would like to deny is the current status of the Philippines (a status the country has fallen into over the past few decades).
In the same period of time, countries like South Korea and Taiwan, one ravaged by war and one built up from a collection of refugees, yet, without the natural resources the Philippines has (and leaves for waste), both have seen their status rise, while the Philippines has remained stagnant for decades. That can solely be blamed on elected officials and their desire to stay in office – keeping the populace poor and turning them into beggars of those in office.
Erik Sherman wrote a piece for a 2015 issue of Forbes Magazine entitled, “How the poverty machine keeps people down and out.” In it, he discusses various circumstances that keeps poor people poor, despite writing about the United States, there are many parallels with the situation in the Philippines, including the poor having to buy cheaper, low quality products, which need to be replaced more often and, in the end, costs more; forced to make purchases through installments, which often makes products more expensive; the ability to purchase health insurance, but not the medicine; among other situations and, given their lack of action (but lots of talk), Filipino politicians only exploit these cases and cover it up with overstatements – like calling their innovations “world-class.”
A prime example of tactics taken by those in power is offering government entitlements, which Veronique de Rugy argued in a 2016 issue of Reason Magazine, citing a study by economist Casey Mulligan of the University of Chicago, “Government spending programs tied to income (that is, programs that are meant to benefit low-income workers only) make work less remunerative (rewarding).”
“These programs can actually hinder income mobility,” de Rugy explained. “In order to continue receiving their government cash, individuals are forced to limit the amount they earn.”
Given the endless number of photo opportunities elected officials love to disseminate, showing them showering endless government handouts to the poorest of society, however, as argued, that assistance only perpetuates poverty, the goal of elected officials because it keeps beneficiaries in their servitude (which means votes).
The lack of electricity is directly related to poverty, in that, quoting an previous “Expat vs Balikbayan” column published in Watchmen Daily Journal back in July, “In a 2011 piece in Deutsche Welle, Chiponda Chimbelu wrote about the economic situation in Africa and noted how poor infrastructure, particularly for the service of commodities, like electricity, are creating an impediment for development.” The column later quoted German Development Cooperation economist Matthias Grossmann, who said, “The majority of countries in sub-Saharan Africa still experience regular power outages, which of course contribute to a low productivity of many firms.”
This impediment to development and productivity also keeps the country’s poor impoverished – again, a goal of those in office.
Daren Bakst and Patrick Tyrrell compiled a list of government actions that hurt the poor for the Heritage Foundation, earlier this year.
Incidentally, one of the points they list is “Federal Sugar Program.”
Given the way national and local politicians talk up the local sugar industry and insist on the necessity of government regulations on distribution and sales, the piece argues, “Big government policy may benefit the small number of sugar growers and harvesters, [but] it does so at the expense of sugar-using industries and consumers.”
Their article cited an Iowa State University study that found, “The removal of the sugar program would increase US consumers’ welfare by $2.9 to $3.5 billion (P56.7 to P68.4 billion) each year and generate a modest job creation of 17,000 to 20,000 new jobs in food manufacturing and related industries.”
Earlier this year, Save the Sugar Industry Movement (Save-SIM) lead convener Wennie Sancho said, “If sugar prices are high, it will assure the livelihood of sugar workers.”
However, on that exact matter, the Bakst and Tyrrell study said, “Artificially high prices are not an unintended consequence of the program, but the inevitable result of intentionally restricting supply.”
“The poor suffer from these artificially high prices; sugar is used in many products, including staple products,” they concluded.
As politicians in the Philippines continue to push for higher taxes, while lobby groups call for higher distribution prices, looking at it after seeing Bakst and Tyrrell’s perspective, it is clear, the demands by these sectors will only benefit the few, while the greater majority are subject to a lower supply, which ultimately results in higher prices.
Again, elected officials and lobbyists speak under the impression those listening are ignorant and, by merely saying things like “assure the livelihood,” it would appear to be amenable to all parties.
If government gave a little bit of credit to the average citizen, and not simply putting themselves on a pedestal and lecturing “the masses,” maybe something could get done in working through the numerous problems the country faces.
While politicians continue to pay lip service to those who can be of financial assistance or to other self-important politicians, it will just be more of the same for years on end – even with somebody like Rodrigo Duterte elected president, nearly everybody below him is still the typical self-centered politician.
“Most of the social problems that people have faced throughout history have been ameliorated or solved through the voluntary workings of civil society and the market process, not through government,” wrote David Boaz of the Cato Institute. “Even if people on government payrolls achieve some noteworthy goals, it is only the wealth produced by civil society that allows government to undertake those projects.”
Unfortunately, in a country like the Philippines, where government insists on having a stake in every sector, it is almost impossible for the average individual to introduce innovation without somebody in government wanting to get their hands on it; and eventually misuse it and only flaunt it as a personal achievement./WDJ