May 2009 Celebrate Mother’s Day on May 10! Take a break and treat Mom to Bantay Kalikasan’s Palawan ecotour, indulge in a lunch buffet at the Eugenio Lopez Center (details on page 11) or check out gift ideas from Rockwell Power Plant Mall (on page 12). Available online at www.lopezlink.ph Gina Lopez leads ‘one big push’ to clean up the Pasig River IN 1999, ABS-CBN Foundation Inc. (AFI) did the near impos- “It requires the involvement of a large number of the population; 2008 performance: sible when it successfully took on the management of the reforesta- in fact, most of Metro Manila, if you really want to keep it clean tion of the La Mesa Watershed area through its then newly formed over the long term.” ABS-CBN environmental arm, Bantay Kalikasan. The 27-kilometer Pasig River winds through Metro Manila lumalakas pa! ...p.2 This year, the foundation trains its sights on a bigger and more and connects Laguna de Bay to Manila Bay by way of the Na- ambitious rescue effort—cleaning up Manila’s jewel, the Pasig River, pindan Channel, one of the four major tributaries; the others through Kapit Bisig Para sa Ilog Pasig (KBPIP). are San Juan River, Pateros-Taguig River and Marikina River. ”We have to change the way we look at the river,” AFI man- In all, a total of 47 tributaries, esteros and creeks feed into the aging director Gina Lopez said during the program launch in river. February. “We should use the media to awaken the conscious- Project co-managers ness and the reverence that people should have for the Pasig KBPIP aims to arrest some 80 years of abuse of the Pasig River, River.” which saw the waterway decline steadily from “an important means “This is a massive project because you’re not just talking of the of transport and center of economic activity” during pre-Hispanic Pasig River but also of the tributaries,” stressed KBPIP project Who manager Girlie Aragon in a later interview with LopezLink. Turn to page 6 made it?: 2008 LAA nomi- nees known ...page 4 Photo: DAMON LYNCH DAMON Photo: Join the 180-day challenge! …page 10 View of San Juan River from Sevilla Bridge, Mandaluyong. San Juan River is a major tributary of Pasig River. 2 3 Lopezlink May 2009 Lopezlink May 2009 2008 Lopez Group financial performance Meralco welcomes PBR decision ABS-CBN lumalakas pa! MERALCO said it wel- The ERC approved an average ity service since the distribution comes the approval by the En- distribution charge of P1.22 per utility (DU) is fined if it does By Carla Paras-Sison ing site sa internet. Dahil sa come sa US$14.5 milyon mula TOTAL REVENUES Net income/ (loss) ergy Regulatory Commission kWh. It also directed Meralco not meet service level standards. mga ganitong investment, US$104.6M. (ERC) of its rate translation to accelerate the CERA refund, Private DUs are mandated to NANATILING malakas naabot ng ABS-CBN ang Ang pag-utang ng First 2007 2008 % change 2007 2008 % change under performance-based reg- from 4 centavos implemented enter PBR, a rate-setting meth- ang ABS-CBN noong 2008 mga bagong manonood tu- Gen noong bilhin nito ang ulation (PBR). starting March, to 14.61 centa- odology successfully employed at umakyat ng 9% ang con- lad ng kabataan, at naibababa controlling stake sa EDC ABS-CBN P19.94B P22.31B +12 P1.27B P1.39B 9 + With the approval, Meralco vos per kWh this May. in countries such as the United solidated net profit nito sa P1.4 ang gastos para sa paggawa at noong Nobyembre 2007 at ga- Benpres P19.89B P22.31B +12 P5.37B P2.93B* -45 will be the latest electric utility With the three rate devel- States, the United Kingdom bilyon, mula P1.3B noong pagtago ng video. yundin ang unrealized foreign EDC P18.80B P19.10B +2 P8.60B P1.30B** -85 Power group nagsaayos ng to implement PBR-based rates. opments for May—the PBR and Australia. 2007. Nagdagdag din ng 12% exchange losses mula sa re- US$1.10B US$1.80B +61 US$104.60M US$14.5M -86 pagkakautang First Gen The National Transmission adjustment, CERA refund “It is close to six years since ang consolidated revenues valuation ng foreign currency +43 P4.48B* P1.19B* -73 FPHC P55.00B P78.57B Corporation, whose operations change, and lower transmission Meralco was last allowed to ad- sa P22.3B mula P19.9B. At Nahirapan ang power loans at assets ng First Gen Jan. 2008-March 2008 Financial Results (unaudited) -22 Meralco P200.69B P191.78B -4 P4.04B P3.13B*** Meralco boosts renewable energy portfolio. MERALCO signed a contract for were recently assumed by the just its rates. The last time we bagama’t mahina ang TV ad- and energy sector ng Lo- group ang may pinakamalak- charges—there will be a net re- the supply of electricity with Montalban Methane Power Corporation (MMPC), allowing Meralco to National Grid Corporation of had an adjustment was in June vertisements sa pangkalahatan, pez Group noong 2008 dala ing epekto sa pagbaba ng net *Net income attributable to equity holders of the parent duction of 1.4-centavos per kWh source clean energy from the MMPC’s 8.19-megawatt renewable power generating plant in Rodriguez, the Philippines, first imple- 2003 when the bill was un- bumaba lamang ng 1% ang air- ng pagbuno sa mga pagka- income. **Kasama ang P8.9 bilyong losses from the revaluation of EDC’s JPY12 billion loan at P2 bilyong one-time income from arbitration award; kung wala in average power rates for May. ang mga ito, nasa P5.5B ang recurring net income ng EDC Rizal. The plant will recover harmful methane gas from the Rodriguez garbage dump to generate electric- mented PBR rates three years ith the PBR, customers bundled,” the company said in time revenues ng ABS-CBN kautang na dolyares at yen na Nakabawas din dito ang W ***Kasama ang P2.5B na provision for probable losses para sa disallowed recovery of generation costs; kung wala ito, nasa P5.65B ang net income ity, enabling Meralco to increase its capacity and alleviate global warming through the reduction of carbon ago. For Meralco, implementa- can look forward to higher effi- a statement. (Meralco Corporate sa P13.5B from P13.6B. apektado naman ng pandaig- pagbayad ng buwis para sa bu- emissions during electricity generation. Photo shows (l-r) Meralco executive vice president and networks ng Meralco tion will start May 2009. ciency and reliability in electric- Marketing) Bumuti naman ng 9% ang digang krisis pampinansiyal. ong taon ng First Gas Power head Ricardo Buencamino, Meralco president and COO Jose P. de Jesus, MMPC chairman Salvador direct sales sa P5.8B dahil sa Bagama’t tumaas o hindi Corporation, dahil nag-expire recovery of generation costs pez Group ay nagkaroon ng sa kasalukuyang kaguluhan sa Zamora II and MMPC president Peregrino Fernandez. (Meralco Corporate Marketing) pagdami ng subscriptions sa halos gumalaw ang revenues, na ang income tax holiday nito samantalang P4.10B ang para consolidated revenues na pandaigdigang kalakal. ABS-CBN Global, lalo na sa pawang bumaba ang net in- para sa Santa Rita power plant sa pagsauli ng transmission P78.57B noong 2008. Ito Benpres consolidated revenues lumobo Meralco braces for Estados Unidos. Nang idada- come ng mga kumpanya sa noong Mayo 2007. Humina charges sa mga customers. ay mas mataas ng 43% kaysa gdag pa ang kontribusyon ng power group, at malaking rin ang net income ng First Kung wala ang provision P55.00B na revenues noong Ang Benpres, parent com- EDC gears up for more SkyCable na P2.6B noong bahagi nito ang pagbaba ng Gen Hydro Power Corpora- para sa probable losses da- 2007.Ang net income attrib- pany ng ABS-CBN at ng 2008, umabot ng P8.8B ang halaga ng piso sa dolyar at sa tion (FGHPC), ang owner hil sa disallowed recovery of utable to equity holders of the increased power usage FPHC, ay nagtala ng consoli- direct sales kasama ang Sky- yen noong nakaraang taon. at operator ng Pantabangan- generation costs na P2.52B, parent ay P1.2B, o mas maliit dated revenues na P22.307B MERALCO assured its cus- “During the summer clude the proper cleaning and Cable, or mataas ng 52% sa Ang Energy Develop- Masiway hydroelectric power ang net income ng Meralco ng 73% kaysa P4.5B. Ang noong 2008, o 12% na mas overseas ventures tomers that it will continue to months, consumption levels of maintenance of appliances so P5.8B noong 2007. ment Corporation (EDC) ay plant complex, dahil sa mas ay umabot sa P5.65B o mas pagbaba ng net income ay da- malaki kaysa P19.891B noong AS part of its expansion of its geothermal companies willing The company is also await- provide uninterrupted power our customers increase. Cool- that these may work more ef- Tumaas ng 12% ang total ex- nag-report ng P1.3B na net kaunting irrigation require- mataas ng 39% kumpara hil sa mas mataas na foreign 2007. Kaya lamang, bumaba geothermal operations abroad, to develop its vast geothermal ing the renewal of its drilling this summer season. However, ing appliances like air-condi- ficiently, the use of compact penses sa P19.9B mula P17.7B income, mas mababa ng 85% ments na nagpababa sa gener- noong 2007. exchange losses at finance ng 66% ang net income attrib- Energy Development Corpo- resources. He added that EDC contract with Lihir Gold Ltd. the power utility said that a sig- tioners, refrigerators, freezers, fluorescent lights, the system- dahil na rin sa consolidation mula P8.6B noong 2007.