Councilors allay fears of blackout

AMID the power distribution war, residents of Iloilo City were told not to worry of the alleged looming city-wide power interruptions.

Panay Electric Company (PECO), which for decades had been Iloilo City’s sole power distributor, earlier said it would stop operating in January 2019 if it fails to renew its congressional franchise to distribute electricity.

“We should not be afraid because of Peco’s peddling of blackout because government agencies have assured the people of Iloilo City that there will be no power blackout,” said Iloilo City Councilor Joshua Alim.

Alim, one of those who led the organized opposition to the renewal of PECO’s franchise, said PECO is simply blackmailing Congress and Malacañang into giving it a new franchise with its threat to plunge Iloilo into darkness.

PECO’s legal counsel Inocencio Ferrer earlier said in radio interviews that Ilonggos should blame the House and the Senate if a citywide blackout occurs next year.

The lawyer said the Senate should return MORE Power’s franchise application to the House because the rival firm has no experience and assets for power distribution services.

Ferrer also insisted that PECO will not sell its assets to its rival MORE Electric and Power Corp. and would explore all legal means to prevent expropriation of its distribution lines and systems by MORE Power.

Alim said Ferrer’s combative stance only showed PECO’s desperation because it could no longer secure the new franchise from Congress.

Alim pointed out that PECO did not get its application for a new franchise approved by the House and the Senate because of its “long record of bad service and abuse of its status as a monopoly.”

In the hearing of the Senate Committee on Public Services last October 22 on the issue, the Department of Energy, represented by Antonio Barcelona, proposed that the final bill granting MORE Power the franchise should provide for automatic divestment of the assets of the existing distribution utility to ensure continuous power service.

The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) is also studying legal options to ensure there would be continuous electricity supply in Iloilo City.

“PECO is being arrogant as usual with no concern for the welfare of Iloilo residents. This kind of abuse and arrogance is no longer acceptable with Congress and the Senate approving the franchise for a new distribution utility company – MORE Power,” added Councilor Plaridel Nava in one of the hearings.

“For 95 years they have been abusive, arrogant. They do not deserve a single moment to stay in the city of Iloilo. That is why we welcome MORE. We do not know any of them, but Iloilo City needs a power distributor utility who can address the concerns, who can be consumer-friendly,” Nava added.

Earlier, MORE Power and Electric Co. called as blackmail Ferrer’s statements that PECO will stop operating in January 2019 if it fails to renew its congressional franchise,

In a statement, MORE Power and Electric Co. said PECO created its own problems “because of their arrogance, inutility, and abuses of their monopolized business and self centered service.”

PECO’s application for franchise renewal remains pending in the House of Representative’s Committee on Congressional Franchises.

MORE Power, on the other hand, has secured the nod of the House and the Senate Committee on Public Services chaired by Senator Grace Poe.

In an earlier interview, PECO President Luis Miguel Cacho assured the Ilonggo community that, “definitely we will continue to operate as long as we can because we love our fellow Ilonggos and we will not abandon Iloilo City.”

However, “if there is no franchise and the government, through rule of law, will realistically disallow PECO to operate then PECO cannot operate despite its genuine intention to serve Iloilo City’s power distribution needs,” Ferrer said.

SOURCE: The Daily Guardian

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