MANILA: President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said he has no bad blood with the Villar family as his administration moves against underperforming utility providers nationwide.
Speaking in the third part of the fourth episode of his BBM podcast, Marcos was asked about the government’s recent move to take over Siquijor Island Power Corp. (Sipcor)—which was owned by the Villars—over poor service.
The Villars also own PrimeWater, another utility investigated by the administration for alleged subpar service.
“None of this is personal; they’re friends of mine and I respect them, but we have to fix the problem,” said Marcos when asked if he bore any ill will against the Villars, in particular.
“People have to have electricity and water. So whatever the reason is, let’s just fix it. Help me fix it, I cannot fix it on my own. You need to help me,” he added.
Asked about Sipcor’s statement that it would resort to legal action following the takeover, Marcos said he would do anything to ensure Filipinos are provided electricity.
“What matters to me is that we have electricity. So I’ll do whatever I need to do to make that happen,” said Marcos.
He added that poor service by some electric cooperatives often stems from boards dominated by political appointees without the expertise to run cooperatives efficiently.
“Over the years, political appointees with no knowledge of running an electric cooperative were placed on the board; that’s why things ended up this way,” said Marcos.
“Every time you make it political, the competence level drops. I’m sorry, but that’s the fact of the matter,” he added. - Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN
