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The Mindanao Business Council (MinBC) has been elected to chair the Mindanao Electric Power Alliance (MEPA), an island-wide aggrupation composed of 33 stakeholder organizations of the Mindanao power industry.  During the MEPA General Assembly held last 6-7 April 2010 in Cagayan de Oro City, the MinBC, represented by its Chairperson Vicente T. Lao, was elected by his fellow members of the Board of Trustees of MEPA to lead the alliance for a term of one (1) year.

“Several years of neglect by the National Government has brought us to the crisis we are experiencing today.  The road to recovery will be a long and protracted one and I can guarantee you, it will not be an easy job.  But as an old Chinese saying goes, the journey of a thousand miles starts with the first few steps.  Today, MEPA is planting the seed for future leaders of this island to take up the cudgels to protect the interest of the small Juan dela Cruz to enjoy the blessings that the Creator has endowed on this island.”, Lao said as he presided over the 2nd General Assembly of MEPA in Cagayan de Oro City in the presence of about 30 members.

Formed during the Mindanao Power Summit in Cagayan de Oro City last December 2009, the MEPA is primarily composed of local business organizations such as chambers of commerce and industry, local distribution utilities, investors in power generation, and the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines.  Since then, MEPA has been active in forwarding proposals to the National Government on the short, medium and long-term solutions to the power crisis that Mindanao is currently experiencing.  It has represented the Mindanao private sector in a number of cabinet-level meetings in Malacañang specifically called for the purpose of crafting solutions to the island’s ballooning power supply deficit.

Aside from Lao, also elected as officers of MEPA were Cagayan de Oro Chamber of Commerce and Industry as Vice Chairman (represented by its president, Mr. Ralph Paguio), Butuan-Agusan Chamber of Commerce and Industry as Secretary (represented by its president Engr. Alan Silor), Association of Mindanao Rural Electric Cooperatives as Treasurer (represented by its Executive Director Clint Django S. Pacana), Zamboanga City Chamber of Commerce and Industry as Treasurer (represented by its Executive Director Dante Corteza) and Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry as Public Relations Officer (represented by Mr. Manuel M. Orig).

MEPA is currently in the process of finalizing its position on the government’s privatization efforts of the Agus-Pulangui Hydroelectric Complexes in Lanao del Sur and Bukidnon.  The said facilities comprise over 50% of the island’s total power generation mix thus gifting the island’s power consumers with lower rates compared to Luzon and the Visayas.