The Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT)’s investment in Manila Electric Company (Meralco) is meant for the long term, Manuel V. Pangilinan, PLDT Chairman, told reporters Wednesday. However, in the same breath, he conceded that “We are studying our options carefully. We have certain rights – the right of first refusal and tag-along rights.”

He was referring to Triratna’s bid to buy into 13.4-percent of Meralco for P300 per share (against the PLDT bid of P225 per share). PLDT already has 223 million shares, 20%, of Meralco’s total outstanding common shares through its holding firm, Pilipino Telephone Corporation (Piltel). Metro Pacific Corporation, on the other hand, has acquired 14.7 percent of Meralco. The combined shares of Piltel and MPC is equivalent to 370 million shares or 34 percent.

However, “MPC’s intention is to buy more Meralco shares, so its equity stake will be at least equal that of PLDT,” he declared. In this case, Piltel and MPC should ideally own 40 percent of the power utility. “The premise is that the Meralco investment will be long-term and create synergies so that Meralco will have an exciting future.”

Indeed, selling out its investment in Meralco will already translate to a hefty profit, some P40 Billion, Pangilinan conceded. Still, they are considering their options thoroughly. “We will do what is best for PLDT,” he declared.

Already, Meralco, in cooperation with Smart Communications Inc., is launching Meralco Mobile Services, which could well be a platform for pre-paid electricity. But as of now, the project is on a pilot run in selected areas and will not be available to customers in Meralco’s entire franchise area until 2010.

Services covered in the pilot run include broadcast of pre-determined power interruption schedules, emergency interruptions, typhoon-related safety tips, business center locations and a customer feedback facility.

Once fully operational, other services to be offered include meter reading notification, billing details, bill due date reminders, power outage restoration feedback, among others. The services are made possible through a Meralco Mobile Services SIM card which will be sold starting November 16. Existing Smart subscribers will be able to download the Meralco Mobile Services menu to their current SIMs.

On the part of PLDT, the telco is already reaping profits from its 2 and a half month old Meralco transaction. From July 14, 2009 to

September 30, 2009, PLDT’s share in Meralco’s net earnings already amounted to P361 million.

Meralco’s revenues consist primarily of income from the transmission, generation and distribution of electricity, the first two of which are “pass-through” charges. Meralco’s Electricity revenues for the first nine months of 2009 totaled P139.2 billion, a 1% decline from the P141.1 billion from the same period in 2008.