AS electricity woes deepen in General Santos City, its residents — who are under the power franchise of Socoteco II — now find themselves being courted by two of the country’s biggest power players now pitching themselves as the long-awaited fix to their chronic energy problems.
One of them is the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), which has dangled the proposition of full privatization of Socoteco II as the quickest path to reform. The pitch is simple: the based power firm, which accounts for roughly 60 percent of the country’s power distribution market, could bring its over 120 years experience in the industry to fix the coop’s ailing distribution service.
Doing the groundwork for Meralco is its senior vice president and head of strategic DU partnerships, Arnel Casanova, who has been going on local radio tours to debunk what he called “fake news” about the company’s proposal to convert the coop into a stock corporation.
“Don’t fall for fake news, don’t believe in scammers,” he said in one such radio interview, as he appealed to GenSan residents to be “vigilant” and to know the “real facts” about Meralco’s offer.
But scrutiny of Meralco’s proposal has inevitably drawn attention to Casanova’s not-so-rosy past of using strong-arm tactics to force future “partners” to bend to his will. Most instructive was his tenure as president of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA), where he built a reputation for sending armed goons to harass communities, developers and private firms in high-profile confrontations that later sparked a legal backlash.
In 2012, he deployed heavily armed personnel to try and demolish the homes of retired and active military officers and soldiers in areas of Fort Bonifacio that were not under the BCDA, which is tasked to manage and develop the former United States bases. Casanova had issued a notice threatening the immediate demolition of the structures in the area, which was heavily opposed by the families who argued that they were residing in the diplomatic and consular area, and not in the Joint US Military Advisory Group property.
The following year, Casanova was caught on video accompanied by automatic weapons-toting security personnel to close the roads around SM Prime Holdings’ (SMPH) Aura Mall project, which was set to be inaugurated then. He insisted on a nonexistent lien over the 16-hectare property and argued that the proceeds from the lease agreement between Taguig and SMPH for the project should go to BCDA and the Armed Forces of the Philippines modernization program instead.
Under his tenure, BCDA also moved to take control of Camp John Hay in Baguio City, deploying hundreds of security guards and prompting legal action from CJH Development Corp. (CJHDC). A court would later direct BCDA to honor the arbitration provisions under existing agreements. Still, the conflict would fester until 2017, when Casanova and other former BCDA executives were ordered arrested by a Pasig regional trial court for libel after he published a “malicious notice” against CJHDC.
These episodes have continued to shadow Casanova’s career even as he moved to business tycoon Manny V. Pangilinan’s Meralco. One does wonder whether the power giant may have been misguided in sending him to woo Socoteco II. Though no longer using the same commando-style tactics, reports indicate he was now using more discreet, underhanded strategies to pull ahead: buying blocktime in local media and deploying an army of text message trolls to send anonymous messages to GenSan residents to undermine the competition.
Does this show the lengths Casanova was willing to go to seal the deal for Meralco? After all, for all its limitations, Socoteco II is still considered to be one of the best-performing cooperatives in Mindanao. GenSan, a rapidly developing city, and the broader industrializing Soccsksargen region, would be a prized jewel for any power firm wanting to gain a foothold in the region. He might be hard-pressed to seal the deal for Meralco, which is seeking to expand beyond its traditional Luzon stronghold.
The members of Socoteco II might well heed his calls for transparency and scrutinize these maneuvers. With their energy future hanging in the balance, they will have to decide whether to trust not just Meralco’s promises but the man carrying them. His track record suggests that when persuasion falls short, pressure is never far behind.