Politics shouldn’t affect franchise renewal of public utilities

MANILA – Senator Sherwin “Win” Gatchalian on Thursday said politics should not play a role in the renewal of franchises of public utilities.

During a forum with representatives from the electricity sector, Gatchalian admitted that politics is indeed interfering in the franchise renewal.

“Kapag politika po, walang tama at mali eh. Politika is politika. Whatever benefits you, yun po ang nagiging basis ng renewal (When it comes to politics, there is no right or wrong. Politics is politics. Whatever benefits you, it becomes the basis of the renewal),” he said.

Gatchalian, chair of the Senate Committee on Energy, assured the electric utilities that he will remain fair in determining the renewal of the franchises if he gets elected anew in the May 9 elections.

“When I say fairness, we will look into performance, we will look at consumer satisfaction, among many things. I will make sure that politics will not play a role in the renewal of the franchise of our utilities kasi hindi ho tama yan (because that is not right),” he added.

Since the power to grant franchises is vested both in the two houses of Congress — Senate and the House of Representatives, some electric utilities believe politics affects the process of franchise renewal.