Petilla quits; insider sought as successor

ENERGY SECRETARY Carlos Jericho L. Petilla vacates his post today, leaving behind a bureaucracy business leaders noted is staffed by professionals who can handle contingencies but needed an industry insider at the helm nevertheless.

Mr. Petilla yesterday confirmed reports that he has relinquished the helm of the Energy department — for “personal reasons” — saying he submitted his letter to Malacañang a month ago.

“I submitted my resignation letter a week before the Holy Week and it’s effective April 30. Today ( Wednesday) is my last day. My resignation is irrevocable,” Mr. Petilla said in press briefing at the Department of Energy (DoE) headquarters in Taguig City.

His announcement comes smack in a period the government had warned would be marked by insufficient power for Luzon, which contributes around 70% to national output. DoE had last estimated that Luzon would need an additional 782 megawatts (MW) from March to July to cover an anticipated shortage and required reserves. While such crisis has not transpired, Visayas has seen erratic reserves while Mindanao has none. A check with the Web site of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines yesterday showed Luzon with enough reserves at 1,463 MW, the Visayas with 231 MW (compared to double-digit reserves in past days) and Mindanao with none consistently for much of April.

While he would not confirm whether President Benigno S.C. Aquino III had accepted his resignation, Mr. Petilla said that, “without further instructions from Malacañang, I will no longer be the energy secretary tomorrow.”

He said he had already given the Executive enough time to look for his replacement.

In December 2013, Mr. Petilla actually offered to quit his post for missing a self-imposed Christmas deadline to restore power in areas hit by supertyphoon Yolanda, but Mr. Aquino did not accept his resignation.

“I have not received any further instructions from Malacañang, so my resignation stays and I can step down,” Mr. Petilla said yesterday, adding that he was “willing to extend” his stay “for weeks” if he were asked to do so.

“I would stay if it’s detrimental to the energy family. I gave more than 30 days. If they think that’s not enough to look for somebody else and my skills are still needed, then I can stay,” Mr. Petilla said.

“At this point, there are no indications if I will be asked to extend my stay, but there should be a valid reason if they do so.”

He said he recommended Energy Undersecretary Zenaida Y. Monsada as the department’s officer-in-charge pending appointment of his official successor, and expressed confidence it was staffed by “capable” professionals who can address any contingency.

“I would like to assure that in the absence of any formal replacement, the DoE will not stop. Its operations will continue,” Mr. Petilla said.

“There are people here who know the job. They handle particular concerns related to energy. I don’t think it will be a problem if I leave. Most of them have been with the DoE longer than I am [ sic],” said Mr. Petilla.

“It’s not as if DoE is not in good hands. The people here are capable of doing things even without me.”

A presidential spokesman would not elaborate when sought for details on Mr. Petilla.

“The appropriate procedure is to come to an agreement on when

the resignation of a cabinet member or presidential appointee will take effect, and then the Office of the Executive Secretary — acting on the president’s behalf — will announce the acceptance of such resignation,” Communications Secretary Herminio B. Coloma, Jr. told reporters in Filipino in a briefing in Malacañan Palace.

“We did not receive any notice on that matter.”

Mr. Petilla yesterday parried questions on reports he would run for public office in the national elections in May next year.

“I’m keeping my options open. I resigned because of personal reasons. But if I will run, I can never say the position until the last minute,” said Mr. Petilla, who is affiliated with the president’s Liberal Party.

Saying he had “no regrets in everything that I have done; I did what I think was best for everyone,” Mr. Petilla downplayed talk he could be trying to escape responsibility for any contingency that could arise from unstable power supply in the current dry months.

“We already did all the things the can be done to avert the prob- lem. It actually looks like we can survive this summer,” Mr. Petilla said.

“There has been cooperation among all stakeholders. It’s going to be okay and I think, it’s time for me to go.”

While he admitted that power contingencies may still occur, Mr. Petilla said: “All the preparations are done.”

“For the interruptible load program (ILP), we have scraped down the barrel [ sic]. We called for energy conservation measures,” the energy chief recalled.

“At this point, the only thing we can do is to monitor the situation. We can count on the ILP resources that we have to combat a potential problem.”

BUSINESS ASSURED, BUT…

Under the ILP, big consumers can be asked to run their generators instead of drawing power from the grid in exchange for compensation supply is deemed insufficient.

DoE’s latest data showed that a total of 913 MW can be generated by the 244 registered ILP participants, thus freeing the same volume from the grid.

The private sector expressed mixed sentiments on Mr. Petilla’s resignation, but many believed the power situation should be bearable for the rest of the dry season.

Alfredo M. Yao, president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), said the “private sector is confident that Luzon will be okay.”

“We expect that we will no longer have a problem with the presence of the ILP. We have more than enough supply at this point and we still have ILP as a backup,” Mr. Yao said in a telephone interview.

This confidence was echoed by Federation of the Philippine Industries (FPI) Chairman Jesus L. Arranza, who said separately that “it is important that the ILP is in place.”

“We will be able to get out of all these scares on power shortages with ILP. If there will be a problem, it will be minimal. He (Mr. Petilla) already set the parameters,” Mr. Arranza said via phone.

Henry J. Schumacher, executive vice-president of the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, also agreed that the situation should be generally secure.

“He (Mr. Petilla) has able staff. We can manage. It’s sad to see him go, but addressing the energy situation should be done both by the public and private sector,” Mr. Schumacher said.

The Philippine Independent Power Producers Association (PIPPA) was more cautious, but agreed that the official recommended by Mr. Petilla can do the job.

“It’s hard to predict forced outages. If there are none, we should have no problem,” PIPPA President Luis Miguel O. Aboitiz said in a text message, adding that Undersecretary Monsada “can handle the issue.”

INSIDER WANTED THIS TIME

Peter Wallace, governor at the Management Association of the Philippines, noted that “all systems put in place are sufficient to provide the needed power unless there will be a catastrophic breakdown, which is most unlikely.”

“The challenge now is to get some longer-term base load plans committed,” Mr. Wallace said in a text message.

At the same time, Mr. Wallace joined some of his peers in touting the wisdom of appointing an industry insider to lead the department this time.

Mr. Petilla served as a governor of Leyte prior to his appointment as energy secretary in November 2012. He replaced Jose Rene D. Almendras, who now serves as Secretary to the Cabinet. Mr. Petilla’s brother, Leopoldo Dominico L. Petilla, currently serves Leyte as provincial governor, while their mother, Remedios L. Petilla, is currently mayor of Palo town in the same province.

“It will be helpful if the President chooses someone knowledgeable in the industry,” Mr. Wallace said.

Peter Angelo V. Perfecto, executive director of the Makati Business Club, described Mr. Petilla’s resignation as “a concern given that this administration’s term is winding down.”

“We thank the secretary for his contributions and wish him well. In the meantime, a replacement must be found soon to ensure that there will be continuity in the needed plans and programs to address energy security,” Mr. Perfecto said in a separate text.

He said businesses want the establishment of an energy council composed of members from both the private sector and government. “The private sector is proposing the setting up of a public- private energy council that can craft and ensure implementation of a long-term energy security road map,” Mr. Perfecto said.

‘SOMETHING ODD’

John D. Forbes, senior adviser at the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, aired concerns on possible supply problems, saying via text: “Our members are still concerned over potential blackouts.”

“There is something odd that the President did not ask him to stay until the critical period of the highest demand was past,” he added, referring to the month of May when demand usually peaks.

Mr. Forbes said “it would be good if his successor comes from the energy sector.”

He acknowledged that “ILP is very good but we have no new larger base load plants opening for several years.”