Duterte to power firms: Slash prices, improve services or I will drive you out of business

President-elect Rodrigo Duterte isn’t afraid of big business.

A day after threatening to crackdown on telecommunication giants if they do not improve and bring down the cost of their internet connections, Duterte sent the same message to big energy companies.

In a report by Mindanews’ Antonio Colina IV, Duterte said that he would not hesitate to open the captive markets of power firms to more competition especially from bigger foreign players.

Duterte has had enough of the rotating brownouts that have plagued Davao City and the rest of Mindanao during the Aquino administration .

“Sige bagsak ng husto para kayo wala ng kita,You want to put up (power plant)? Come here. We will amend the law to allow you. Babaan niyo. ” said Duterte in a press conference at the Royal Mandaya Hotel on 25 May 2016.

“Kaya sabi ko you shape up. I told you before, shape up because if you don’t and hindi na kaya ng tao, kakainin sa energy – importations – papasukin ko ang lahat, pati ang Nigeria, meron kayong oil? Tapos sino pa, Mexico?” added Duterte.

Duterte is proposing to amend the 1987 Constitution to shift from a unitary to federal form of government and relax foreign equity restriction in key business sectors .

Duterte is unhappy that the big power companies operating in Mindanao have decided to build power plants using more expensive fuel such as coal and diesel to the detriment of the region’s residents and businesses. But Duterte is not too fond of privatization and would prefer private competition to keep market prices down.

excerpt from source: politics.com.ph