I HAD A DREAM: We’re sure many of us would like to go back to the little town of Bethlehem, the cradle of love and peace. There is a sense of urgency for such pilgrimage as the stable where Jesus was born is now on the verge of a war that could trigger a cataclysm.

While the United States is looking for a way out of its confused pro-Israel policy (since the Jews have long captured official Washington, we think there’s no decent way out for the US), we look to the Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, for a clear, dramatic move.

The Holy Father is old and sick, but that is irrelevant to the path he has to take.

In my dreams, I see him, his hunched figure draped in pure white, walking to Bethlehem, to the Church of the Nativity, blessing all those along the way, combatant and civilian, kneeling before the altar and praying and praying, never leaving, until everybody with arm or armor leaves Bethlehem.

As he treads back to the cradle of Christianity, we see in our dreams the faithful flocking to the same place where shepherds and wise men of old were led by some mysterious light. By their sheer number and prayer, the faithful overwhelm the forces of destruction encamped on Bethlehem.

If any of the world’s leaders want to be part of the dramatic moment, let them. But they should first shed their hypocrisy and come not by an official invitation, but by a spontaneous ring in their hearts that they should go back to the Child Jesus.

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SHAMELESS ARROGANCE: It was a shameless lack of sensitivity on the part of Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) officials to threaten the public with power blackouts if consumers did not agree to pay the rate increases being demanded by the power monopoly.

The arrogance of the officials and owners of Meralco is dangerous. As captive consumers, and with the government looking the other way, we would continue to be as insecure as hostages of the Abu Sayyaf.

The Meralco wants to inflict a hefty rate increase, targeting mostly the small users who have less clout, because it has to raise money quickly to solve the cash flow problem of Meralco and its owners the Lopezes. (Click Archive above for Postscript of March 26, 2002.)

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LINE OF LEAST RESISTANCE: There are many ways of raising the money. First option is for the owners of Meralco to put in more money. But the Lopezes, who control Meralco, are themselves cash-strapped. In fact, many of their other businesses are reportedly in bad financial shape.

That is the reason why we keep saying that if they can’t afford it anymore, they should sell out instead of drag consumers down with them. As the line goes, why should they have their cake and eat it too? Kung talagang hindi na nila kaya, dapat bitawan na nila.

Another option is for them to borrow the money they need. The rationale is not to spend your own when you can spend other people’s (or the bank’s) money.

But the banks, the Asian Development Bank for one, want Meralco and the Lopezes to show that they can earn enough money during the term of the loan to be able to pay back. At the rate the Meralco is hobbling along, its capacity to pay is doubtful.

Ergo, the third option comes in — which is to raise electric rates. This is taking the line of least resistance. It means simply extracting more money from helpless consumers who have proved all these years to be easy prey.

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UNBUNDLING MEANS HIDING: If the defenseless consumer is to be zapped anyway, why not hit him to the max? Lubos-lubusin na! That was the reason why it was exposed early on that Meralco wanted the consumer to pay more or less double his present bill.

Met with a roar of protest, Meralco fell back on its old petition and is now saying it wants only an increase of 30 centavos per kilowatt-hour and — don’t forget! — the unbundling of the charges.

That’s being sneaky. Consumers should look at that “unbundling” ploy more closely. Meralco wants the actual rate increase broken down and distributed or hidden in the various stages of the process, from generation of the power, to distribution, retail, et cetera down the line.

The idea is: when you look at the bill and see the rate increase pertaining to Meralco’s share for delivering the electricity to your meter, it’s just a small amount you probably can live with.

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HIT BY LIGHTNING: We ask consumers not to look only at the basic charge pertaining to Meralco’s end-line role of retailing electricity. Look at the bottom line where the mind-boggling figure will hit you like a triple lightning bolt from the dark skies.

Aside from that “small” jump in your basic charge, there will be other increases in other phases of the generation and distribution (witness the notorious PPA or the Purchased Power Adjustment) — and when you rebundle or total these scattered increases they would amount to something that is likely to make your blood boil.

In tracing responsibility for this dirty scheme to bleed consumers and to do it on the sly, we should not look only at Meralco, but also at the government. The government is supposed to orchestrate the symphony (actually a dirge), di po ba?

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HIDDEN SISTER PROFITS: Here’s one item the government can help investigate. The owners of Meralco reportedly have a generating plant from which it also buys wholesale power for inclusion in the total electric supply retailed within its franchise area.

The government should look into the price of this electricity being bought from a sister company of Meralco. Is it more expensive than the electricity being bought from the National Power Corp?

If it is more expensive (and we were told it is), isn’t the overprice a trick to jack up the retail price of Meralco, through the unbundled PPA, and amass profits for the joint owners of Meralco and its sister company?

When the pricing is unbundled, as Meralco would want the Energy Regulatory Commission to do, this reported fat profit of the Meralco sister firm is virtually hidden as it is not reflected on the line in the bill showing Meralco’s basic charge.

Such overcharging carried over from other lines in the bill is eventually added to the bottom line, or the pesos and centavos that the consumer pays Meralco. But Meralco will tell you, as it does in the case of the PPA, that it’s not their charge but somebody else’s upstream.

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OLIGARCHIC SYNDROME: Meralco consumers are generally a patient lot despite the poor service and exorbitant rates. That’s why they have always been thought to be suckers.

We cannot spend our precious time quarreling with Meralco or going around through traffic and smog to file and follow up complaints. Unlike the obscenely rich, we’re busy at work everyday. We have to earn money to pay our ballooning utility bills.

Ang pakiusap lang po namin sa gobyerno, what we are simply asking the government is to please stand on our behalf in the face of powerful forces.

After all, government is supposed to be the agency carrying out the will of the people. After all, our elective officials, starting from the President, keep telling us (to the point of annoyance) that they care for us.

Let’s put a stop to this syndrome of oligarchs high up in government protecting their fellow oligarchs high up in business, and vice versa. For a change, please let’s think of the common man.

We plead with the government, to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in particular, to please help us. If she cannot do it, then maybe we should bring back Erap Estrada. And thereby bring about the final reckoning.