Corrupt acts
THE electric cooperatiVe has faced a number of corruption and mismanagement allegations from consumer groups and lawmakers. One of them, the Castillejos Consumers Association, or Cascona, filed a landmark case several years ago. The EC’s board of directors was found guilty of corrupt acts and removed but was not punished. The Supreme Court later upheld the decision. So the corruption continues, it seems.
In July 2026, a House inquiry into the electric cooperative was pushed due to lingering complaints of widespread corruption, consumer overcharging and anti-consumer behavior, like withholding electric power from the Preda children’s home until they paid a huge sum of money. It was like blackmail. It was as if they were saying: Pay up or suffer more. Now, the electric cooperativce is still demanding payment of their transformer despite it being illegal. The management of the children’s home is taking a stand and saying they are not obliged to pay for the transformer and will continue to expose the gross injustice and violation of the law.
Electricity supply of the Philippines is largely controlled by a small number of prominent conglomerates and family-owned corporations. This came about when rich political families that control Congress passed Epira, which privatized the electricity supply chain and put the sector in the hands of a few corporations. However, each company is limited to having 25 percent of the energy market to prevent a complete monopoly by one or two corporations. ERC data showed that five major players control the vast majority of the country’s installed capacity. The Masinloc power plant in Zambales is owned by San Miguel Global Power. The facility burns coal, and the firm is a subsidiary of San Miguel Corp., led by Ramon S. Ang. They provide 19.62 percent of the energy market. They also own the Sual and llijan coal-fired power plants.
The Aboitiz Power Corp., or AboitizPower, has 24.30 percent and produces electricity using coal, and hydro and solar power. First Gen Corp., owned by the Lopez family, has 10.74 percent and is into geothermal, natural gas and hydro. The Ayala Group’s ACEN Corp. has 6.91 percent and is into wind and solar power generation. And finally, the Manuel V. Pangilinan-owned Meralco PowerGen Corp. has 6.70 percent.
The country’s transmission grid is operated and controlled by the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP). It is a private consortium whose members include Henry Sy Jr. of the SM Group/Monte Oro Grid Resources; Robert Coyiuto Jr. of Calaca High Power Corp.; and the State Grid Corp. of China (SGCC), which holds a 40-percent technical stake. All these families and the SGCC, not the government, hold and control the entire power generation of the nation. You might say the country is run by private corporations and regulated by the government, which the ruling families also dominate through their cronies and relatives. The Philippines, you might say, is truly privatized, but the 113 million Filipinos are not part of it./PN
