A quote from Tony Lopez’s recent talk with President GMA:
Q: Why do you have to amend the Epira?
PGMA: That’s really part of this friction that I’m talking about. For without (amending) it, you cannot set up the right infrastructure to bring down power rates. These are frictions coming from difficult provisions, like the preconditions in the Epira such as the 70 percent minimum for privatization of state generating plants. Also, imagine to bring down power rates, you have to go to the ERC (Energy Regulatory Commission (for approval). Who’s gonna oppose reduction in power rates, anyway? That’s what’s required in the Epira.
The Supreme Court has ruled that you cannot do that without hearings.
That’s what the law says. So those are examples of the frictions you have to overcome when you do economic reform. We have to lower electricity rates.