REMEMBER RANHILL BERHAD, THE PARTNER of YNN Pacific in the aborted purchase of the Masinloc Power Plant in Zambales? It’s still around, trying to participate in LRT and MRT projects, as well as in the bulk water projects (worth hundreds of millions of dollars) of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS). It was also reported to have partnered with another Filipino corporation, Phil-Mal Petroenergy Corp. and will soon be awarded a service contract for oil and gas exploration in the Sulu Sea basin. Ranhill Berhad was the second backer of YNN, the winning bidder of the Masinloc power plant. It was supposed to pay the down payment for the plant, but it did not come across with the money until the deadline for the payment expired. Ranhill had asked for a signed supply contract with Meralco as a condition for its honoring its commitment on the down payment. But a supply contract is not included in the rules of the bidding committee of the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM), the government corporation in charge of privatizing Napocor’s assets. (By the way, have PSALM officials returned the P10 million they awarded themselves as bonus for the “successful” sale of Masinloc, which turned out to be not just a failure but a monumental fiasco?) Well, Ranhill is at it again, and is still getting favorable support not only from the Department of Energy and the Energy Regulatory Commission, but also from the MWSS. The MWSS is delaying the prequalification stage of a build-operate-transfer project that is meant to supply 300 million liters per day (300 MLD) because Ranhill still lacks the requirements to prequalify. Proponents must at least be 60-percent owned by Filipinos and at most 40-percent owned by foreigners; they also must meet a minimum combined net worth. Ranhill and its partner have not met these requirements. The project has six proponents. New Kanlaon Consortium and Sierra Madre Consortium have already prequalified. Two have failed, and the last two—Ranhill and Kintech—“are under prolonged consideration” despite their problems in meeting major requirements. The MWSS is probably waiting for Ranhill to catch up. But the project is already much delayed. If not completed soon, the delay will result in a water shortage by 2008. The original deadline for the submission of prequalification requirements was in June 2004. It was moved to January 2005 and then again to October 2005. The prequalification documents were finally opened on Nov. 24, 2005. The MWSS Technical Working Group was supposed to complete the evaluation of the documents within two weeks. Likewise, the Prequalification, Bids and Awards Committee (PBAC) was supposed to take only two weeks to review and approve the results of the evaluation. It is now August 2006 but we have yet to see the results of the prequalification evaluation. Because of these delays, this project at the earliest can only be bid out and awarded in 2007, constructed from 2008 to 2010, and made operational in 2011, at which time a severe water shortage shall have set in. To avoid a shortage, the MWSS must bid out and award this project within the year. * * * Somebody up there tried to pressure the legal counsel of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) to reverse his legal opinion on the takeover of the Poro Point seaport from its legal operator, the Poro Point International Corp. (PPIC), which has a valid 25-year contract with the government. A memorandum by BCDA legal counsel Angel Casanova to BCDA president Narciso Abaya has surfaced, revealing that a former BCDA official had pressured the former to reverse a legal study done by the BCDA, which concluded that there is no legal basis to terminate the current operator’s contract. In a 2004 memorandum, Casanova told Abaya and the BCDA board that former Poro Point Management Corp. (PPMC) head Juanito Antonio told him to reverse the BCDA stand on the legality of the private operator’s contract. “On a number of occasions, Attorney Antonio either called up or personally visited me in my office to persuade and convince me to reverse the legal study made by BCDA regarding the BHI Contract, allegedly due to an instruction from an influential person,” Casanova wrote. “I refused in all these instances not because of any considerations, but for lack of strong legal foundation to reverse our previous findings,” he added. PPMC is a BCDA subsidiary. Antonio has been replaced by lawyer Felix Singson Racadio as head of that agency. Who is exerting the pressure? Somebody who must be very powerful, such that even President Macapagal-Arroyo is timid in stopping the anarchy in Poro Point—in spite of appeals from the business community, including a group of German investors, for her to intervene and prevent the continued paralyzation of the port’s operations. But what if it is the President herself exerting the pressure? Because of the government takeover of Terminal 3 from Piatco and its German partner, the nullification of the Mega-Pacific contract and, now, the forcible takeover of the Poro Point port, there is a growing perception in the international community that “laws are no longer respected in government’s dealings with businessmen.” * * * Another growing perception is that this is a conspiracy among former military men, PMAers all. The takeover was facilitated by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), and the BCDA. The DENR is headed by Gen. Angelo Reyes, the DOTC by former PNP Chief Leandro Mendoza, and the BCDA by Abaya, also a retired general. Like good soldiers, they may be obeying orders from superior officials. More Inquirer columns Previous columns:
Anarchy and brute force at Poro Point – 8/11/06
Lawyers argue against SC decision on Maysilo – 08/09/06
The Maysilo Estate land case – 08/07/06
Owwa fund is trust fund for members only – 08/02/06
Requiem for a journalist – 7/31/06
There should be no safe haven for grafters – 7/28/06
That was not a Sona but a wish list – 7/27/06 | 
