Opposition Sen. Sergio Osmeña III said this yesterday as he stressed that it is high time for a top-to-bottom revamp of the state-owned, financially-handicapped National Power Corporation (Napocor) because its billion (R572 billion) debt is weighing down on the beleaguered Philippine economy.

Osmeña said corrupt and inefficient officials and the existence of a syndicate at Napocor had caused the deterioration of Napocor’s financial picture.

The Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) stated over the weekend that it is the Napocor leadership that should be blamed for the increase of Napocor’s debt from .2 billion during the Marcos administration to .1 billion (R473.2 billion).

Osmeña said FDC’s estimate of Napocor’s .1 billion debt excluded the R200 billion debt that was assumed by the national government based on provisions of the controversial Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) of 2001.

Sen. Joker Arroyo had questioned Napocor’s decision to set aside R10 billion for the early retirement of Napocor rank and file employees to make the sale of Napocor assets palatable to foreign buyers.

Osmeña said that while he did not object to the R10 billion retirement scheme, he criticized the way Napocor officials promoted themselves, passing several grades in the process and getting higher retirement benefits.

He also said he was surprised why Napocor had a R130 billion debt in 2002 alone. Of the estimated billion Napocor debt stock, Osmeña said a billion receipt from the sale of the Napocor’s Transmission Corporation (Transco) and power plants would reduce the state firm’s debt to billion.

The senator criticized past decisions of Malacañang not to increase and even to reduce power rates to gain "pogi" points from the public although power increases are actually needed to keep the finances of the power firm afloat.

It is because of this, among others, that the leadership at Malacañang should also be changed, he added.

FDC chairman Ana Marie Nemenzo said President Arroyo had electricity rates reduced to make the controversial 2001 EPIRA measure acceptable to the people.

She also said that President Arroyo had reduced the purchased power adjustment (PPA) on consumers’ bills in 2003 to gain points although she failed to indicate where government would get the revenues to make up for the loss with the PPA rate reduction.