YEAR 2020 is done and dusted and it looks like it was a “testy” year, according to the yearend report of Panay News.
Moi agrees. It tested and stretched our endurance and resiliency plus our creativity to survive the COVID-19 pandemic which at the moment seems to have no plans to go away just yet.
On top of surviving the pandemic, life goes on and some things or situations are inevitable and, pandemic or not, they will have to be dealt with and in doing so left us with some unanswered questions which hopefully will be answered sooner than later.
Just when the world was focused on the novel coronavirus breakout in Wuhan, China and there were already talks of a global pandemic declaration by the World Health Organization (WHO), talks were also ripe that the Philippines might go into a lockdown or quarantine, something happened in “I Am Iloilo City” totally unrelated but would affect the lives of the natives.
Excerpts from the Dec. 31, 2020 Year-End Report of Panay News:
MORE Electric and Power Corp. (MORE Power) took over the power distribution facilities of Panay Electric Co. (PECO) in February as new power distributor in Iloilo City. Armed with a Writ of Possession from the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 23 and supported by court sheriffs and a battalion of policemen to diffuse resistance, it was able to enter PECO power substations. Judge Emerald Requina-Contreras of RTC, Branch 23, in a ruling dated Feb. 20, 2020 ordered the court sheriff “to place MORE Power in possession” of PECO’s identified power distribution properties for expropriation. The Writ of Possession was served but not without some tension at PECO’s power substation on General Luna Street where its main building was also located. PECO administrative manager Marcelo Cacho refused to receive the writ. Court sheriffs thus just posted it on the building then declared that it was good as served.
With that Writ of Possession also came the amount of P481,842,450 as compensation for all the assets and properties included in the Writ of Possession which I understand was deposited in Landbank.
Now our question is, what happened to that P481,842,450? Is it still deposited in the bank or has PECO already withdrawn the money? It is more than enough to start anew, perhaps a BMW car dealership, a fine dining restaurant/wine bar or a PR firm.
The mystery, as far as Moi is concerned now that everything seems to have quieted down, is what happened to that money. Was it ignored by PECO?
And speaking of BMWs, there were stories that came out in the media both mainstream and social about a certain BMW 520d sedan which was purchased by PECO using the company’s capital expenditure (supposedly intended for equipment) from the Asian Carmaker Corporation. This class of BMW, according to sources, cost around P5 million.
Now here’s the second question: Where is the BMW now? Is it roaming the streets of “I Am Iloilo City” or in somebody’s garage?
And what about that monolith on General Luna Street which for decades symbolized the watch of PECO over “I Am Iloilo City”? Is it occupied by MORE Power? If not, will they eventually occupy it? The act of taking over that building is somehow akin to the “Fall of Bastille”, a symbolic gesture of a new order declaring the fallen one irrelevant.
This brings us to our next question – the illegal jumpers and illegal power resellers.
To date, from these 30,000 “jumpers” more than 14,000 have already been apprehended; 900-plus kilometers of jumper cables seized; more than 70 individuals have been charged with violation of the Anti-Pilferage of Electricity Act and Theft of Electric Transmission Lines/Materials Act of 1994 RA 7832which is a criminal offense.
Not bad. In fact, it’s good. But our question is, will this be a continuing sustaining campaign or will it stop there? We hope it will continue.
Next question: Has the campaign to run after these illegal jumpers and illegal power resellers did as much to minimize if not alleviate the chronic problem of brownouts?
As I said before, the “proof of the pudding is in the eating”.
By the way, Questions 67 and 68 is a 1969 song written by Robert Lamm for the rock band Chicago (then known as Chicago Transit Authority) and recorded for their debut album Chicago Transit Authority. It was their first single release./PN
