This paper looks at the privatization process of the Philippine electric power industry.  It outlines the developments in the law governing the industry, with emphasis on the measures that steered privatization.  It provides an overview of the role that the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank played in pushing privatization.  It argues that the power sector reform in the Philippines is a resounding success in terms of meeting the ADB and World Bank’s bottom line of crating the biggest space for private sector participation, but it is a dismal failure in terms of serving the public interest.

The way the privatization of the Philippine energy sector has evolved has meant higher electricity prices for consumers, greater probability of private market power in the sector, lesser environmental protection, lesser consumer protection, and legitimating of wrong policies and corruption.

Available at Action for Economic Reforms Office.