If you're stupid and incompetent, go blame God!

Well, this is what a stupid former Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines wants to tell us!

Courtesy of the Manila Times
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As Mindanao continued to reel from a severe power shortage, Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes chose to blame God, but only in jest during a press briefing on Monday. [Jest or no jest its not funny!]

Reyes admitted that the magnitude of the dry spell hitting parts of the country was quite unexpected and that the government was caught off-guard. He said such events were “major acts of God.” [If you had been doing your job, this would not have happened.  Executives must not only react to problems, they must prevent them from happening!  Has this guy even read "The Art of War"?]  Hydroelectric facilities generate more than half of Mindanao’s power supply.

While the government had foreseen the El Niño phenomenon, Reyes said that there was “very little we could do because of EPIRA [Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001].” [Or are you just looking for excuses instead of solutions?]

Reyes was referring to the Section 47 (j) of the EPIRA that prohibits the state-owned National Power Corp. (Napocor) from incurring any law obligation to purchase power through bilateral contracts with power generation companies or other electricity suppliers.

Reyes seemed irked when pressed on who was responsible for the power shortage. [Incompetent people will get irked when you ask them for accountability.]

“I never dodged responsibility. I always take responsibility for my actions but we must also remember that not everything is under our control,” he said. [Was that even the question to him?  Tsk, tsk, tsk.  Guilty!]

“If you are looking for somebody to blame, then you can blame me, no problem, I can take it. As a matter of fact, I might enjoy it,” Reyes added. [Oh really?  Have you seen how this guy's facial muscles stiffen during press conferences?  I have.]

The Energy secretary on Sunday proposed the declaration of a power crisis in Mindanao to President Gloria Arroyo. The declaration, he said, would allow the government to invoke Section 71 of the EPIRA and allow Napocor to buy or lease about P5.5-billion worth of modular generation sets to increase the power supply in Mindanao.

Section 71 of EPIRA states that “upon the determination by the President of an imminent shortage of the supply of electricity, Congress may authorize, through joint resolution, the establishment of additional generating capacity under such terms and conditions as it may approve.”

Reyes said that the modular generator sets could be made available in one to three months to augment the power supply in Mindanao. Jessica M. Mora

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First things first.

Filipino government officials, when they fail, they'll blame everything and everybody for their failures except themselves.

When they fail to do their jobs, their solution is to spend more, whatever the problem may be.

And to make matters worse, they aim their guns at the Church and even at God Himself.

So this is how things are.  Street sweepers are more competent and effective in performing their jobs and we call them "Manong" and "Manang".  Stamp pad bosses, press con hungry politicians and grossly overpaid executives are called "Sir", "Ma'm", "Honorable" and "Excellency".

It is no laughing matter.