SOME stockholders of the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) sit in the lobby at Tuesday’s stockholders’ meeting. The government, through the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), and Meralco are engaged in a close battle on who will control the largest power distributor. Inset, GSIS head Winston Garcia casts his vote after the meeting. --AP, NONOY LACZA

AFTER more than 12 hours of waiting by shareholders at the Manila Electric Co.'s (Meralco) annual stockholders' meeting, the Lopezes emerged victorious by managing to maintain control over the country's largest power distributor.

At 10:27 p.m. Tuesday night, Meralco acting corporate secretary Anthony V. Rosete announced that SGV has tallied and tabulated shareholders votes that elected Manuel M. Lopez, Jesus P. Francisco, Christian S. Monsod, Felipe B. Alfonso, Cesar E.A. Virata, Winston F. Garcia, Daisy P. Arce, Bernardino R. Abes, and Jeremy Z. Parulan into Meralco's Board of Directors covering the period 2008 to 2009.

THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may issue a show-cause order against the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) for defying an earlier directive involving the proxy shares solicited by the Lopez bloc.

SEC corporate secretary Gerard Lukban said the show-cause order would basically ask Meralco to explain why it should not be cited in contempt for defying a prior commission order stopping them from voting challenged shares at the company’s annual stockholders’ meeting held Tuesday.

WINSTON Garcia found a strong ally in a ranking official of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) who issued an order taking over the jurisdiction over the corporate intramurals at the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), which the SEC has already lost to regular courts under the Securities Regulation Code.

WHY just us?

Ivanna de la Peña, vice president and head for utility economics of Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), asked this question when the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) filed a petition suggesting that the country’s largest power distributor should absorb the lifeline-rate subsidies for power users consuming less than 100 kilowatt-hour (kWh).

BAUANG, La Union—President Arroyo said Tuesday the government intends to balance the budget by the end of her term—and not specifically in 2008, as had been her habit of saying—further fueling the possibility of a deficit for the year due to pressures from soaring oil and food prices.

Speaking at the inauguration of the second international cable-landing station of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) here, the President said the telecommunications giant’s $500-million investment spares the government from bearing the financial cost of such a vital facility, and as such, “we are better able to balance the budget, which remains a very important priority.”

THE increase in the prices of food imports pushed up the country’s import bill in March and contributed to the increase in the trade deficit for the first three months of the year, according to the preliminary results of the external trade performance report of the National Statistics Office (NSO).

THE country’s manufacturing output has contracted less—by almost 6 percent in March—although the reduction from last year’s contraction of -7.8 percent has not reached the positive side of the equation because contractions and double-digit decreases in 16 major sectors had continued into this year, according to the preliminary results of the Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries (Missi).

“This was primarily due to the sluggish performance in production observed in machinery except electrical, furniture and fixtures, miscellaneous manufactures, tobacco products, textiles, electrical machinery, fabricated metal products and publishing and printing,” the National Statistics Office (NSO) said in a statement.

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