ILOILO City – MORE Electric and Power Corp. (MORE Power) has started the process of taking over the power distribution facilities of Panay Electric Co. (PECO) as new power distributor here.
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 the following PECO power substations yesterday beginning at 10 a.m.:
* Baldoza-La Paz substation (land including all machineries and improvements, buildings)
* General Luna substation (Meter Lab, Power Plant Building and Switchboard House)
* Tabuc Suba, Jaro substation (land, machinery)
* Bolilao, Mandurriao substation (land, buildings, and machinery)
As this was being written last night, MORE Power was set to also enter the Molo substation (land, and buildings, machinery) on Avanceña Street.
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 it main building is 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.
It was not, however, a full MORE Power takeover of PECO’s operation as the two companies are still in a transition period of two years, as provided for in MORE Power’s franchise law, Republic Act 11212. This could be gleaned from the addendum to the Writ of Possession issued by Judge Contreras yesterday.
To ensure the continuous supply of electricity in Iloilo City, the court issued guidelines on how to go about enforcing the writ. Among these were:
* serve the writ in a peaceful manner
* install MORE Power which may deploy its personnel to man and oversee the substations to exercise its possession and control of the distribution facilities, but the operation should still be handled by PECO personnel who has the technical expertise
* maintain the status quo of the operation so as to give time for MORE Power to orient / train / immerse its personnel before it fully takes control of the operation
* see to it that no PECO personnel in the rank and file would be displaced during the transition period
The court also ordered MORE Power and PECO to submit their respective proposals as to their timelines on the following matters:
* transition period
* accounting
* turnover of records like the list of consumers
* documents relevant to the operation of the distribution system, among others
* inventory of personal properties under Category A
* inventory of real properties already under the possession of MORE Power
MORE Power and PECO traded accusations yesterday as the takeover was in progress.
According to PECO, “MORE Power has stationed personnel in our switchboard and meter lab facilities. As of now our trouble call hotlines in relation to restoring power interruptions cannot get through the switchboard because MORE’s personnel shut off our internet connection and disallowed our switchboard personnel from working accordingly. As much as we would like to serve our valued consumers, MORE is not allowing us to do so and our troubleshooters and line teams cannot get any instructions from our switchboard.”
MORE Power countered: “The contention of PECO that MORE Power’s personnel shut off PECO’s internet connection and disallowed the switchboard personnel from working is a bald-faced lie. In order to do that, MORE Power would have had to disconnect the internet connection of the switchboard from the Main Server which is located inside the PECO main building. It is impossible because no one from MORE Power ever entered nor attempted to enter the PECO main building.”
Nevertheless, according to MORE Power, “in order to ensure continuity of services to the consumers of Iloilo City, MORE Power troubleshooters and line team are mobilized to provide assistance as may be needed.”
For the purpose of the issuance of a Writ of Possession, RTC Branch 23 categorized PECO’s properties into three – A, B and C.
Category A were properties included in the writ which PECO did not contest as power distribution assets. These were what were taken over yesterday by MORE Power: the substations, personal properties directly in electric distribution (electric meters, poles, transformers, transmission and distribution equipment composed of primary and secondary lines on the streets of Iloilo City, and service vehicles and equipment used directly in the distribution, maintenance and trouble-shooting activities).
Category B, on the other hand, are PECO assets listed under the “distribution plant” in the Energy Regulation Commission (ERC) record. These include meter lab, power plant building, switchboard house, and other buildings.
Category B properties were also covered by the Writ of Possession.
Category C were properties excluded in the writ because they were either under the classification “general plant” or not listed under the “distribution plant” in the ERC record. These included pole stockyards on Diversion Road, Mandurriao district, land set aside for future substation in Barangay General Hughes, City Proper, service vehicles not used for maintenance troubleshooting purposes, PECO office building, elevator and parking area, office furniture and fixtures, computers and software, and miscellaneous equipment which might contain important documents and trade secrets of PECO.
“The primary goal of the court is a smooth and peaceful transition of operation, to protect the public interest of the people of Iloilo City and its businesses, and to ensure the uninterrupted supply of electricity,” stressed Judge Contreras.
PECO’s franchise expired on Jan. 19, 2019. It failed to secure an extension or a new one from Congress which cited the many complaints from consumers over, among others, erroneous billing, poor customer service and high rates.
On Feb. 14, 2019 President Rodrigo Duterte signed into law MORE Power’s franchise, Republic Act (RA) 11212.
In March 2019 MORE Power asked RTC Iloilo City Branch 37 to issue a writ of possession authorizing it to take immediate control, operation, use, and disposition of PECO’s power distribution system assets.
In seeking the expropriation of PECO’s assets, MORE Power cited Section 10 of RA 11212 and Rule 67 Section 2 of the Revised Rules of Court authorizing it to take possession of, exercise control over, and manage and operate all of the power distribution assets in Iloilo City.
The expropriation of PECO’s assets in its favor, according to MORE Power, would allow it to “immediately address and correct poor services, overcharging, frequent brownouts, expensive rates, old and unsafe facilities and practices, and other service deficiencies that this city’s power users and consumers had long suffered.”
MORE Power also petitioned the court to determine the reasonable value of PECO’s power distribution system assets for just compensation, then order the transfer of the ownership of these upon payment of a just compensation./PN
