The patriarch of a Philippine business family that controls the country’s biggest power utility said yesterday he wants to sell the family stake in the company following government pressure to lower rates."I’m sick and tired of this business," Oscar Lopez, chairman of First Philippine Holdings Corp. which owns more than 33 percent of the power distributor Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), said.
"We can’t even get a rate increase because the government is saying our rates are too high," he said, adding he was willing to sell the family’s holdings in Meralco to the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) or to a foreign firm.
"This is my own opinion," Lopez added.
Winston Garcia, president of GSIS which holds a fourth of Meralco, has called for a management revamp in the company to compel Meralco to lower its rates.
President Arroyo has called on Meralco to lower power rates to ease the burden on the country’s poor who are saddled with rising food and oil prices and also in response to foreign business groups which have complained of high power costs.
Shares of Meralco lost 3.6 percent Thursday, underperforming the main stock index which gained 0.8 percent. The stock has lost 16.7 percent so far this week after the government stepped up its campaign to press for lower rates from Meralco.
Last year, the Lopez family entered into deals to buy additional stakes in Meralco from partner Union Fenosa of Spain and from the Meralco pension fund, raising its stake to 33.4 percent from 18 percent.
The last time Meralco raised its basic distribution charge was in June, 2003. A new petition by the company to raise its basic rates is still pending with the government regulatory body.
The Lopezes bought into Meralco in 1962 but the family’s stake was confiscated by President Ferdinand Marcos when he declared martial law in 1972.
The family returned to the company in 1986 after Marcos’ ouster following a popular revolt.