BACOLOD City – The House of Representatives has approved on third and final reading House Bill (HB) 9805 that grants a 25-year franchise to Negros Electric and Power Corporation (NEPC).
Yesterday, Feb. 21, the 19th Congress, with a majority vote of 225 members in favor, nine against, and one abstention, gave its nod. This is one of the steps to secure NEPC’s authority to operate and improve electricity distribution in the franchise area of Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco).
HB 9805 allows NEPC to establish, operate, and maintain a distribution system for supplying electric power to end-users in the following areas within Negros Occidental: the cities of Bacolod, Silay, Talisay, and Bago; and the municipalities of Murcia and Don Salvador Benedicto.
These areas have 177,700 eligible member-consumer-owners (MCOs).
Following the final approval of the bill in the Lower House, the next step is transmitting the approved bill to the Senate for its concurrence.
Upon Senate approval, the bill, signed by Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Martin Romualdez, and certified by the respective secretaries, will be forwarded to the Office of the President.
Once the bill is approved by the President, it will be assigned a Republic Act number and returned to the House of Representatives.
In the case of a veto, the bill, along with an explanation for the veto, will be sent back to the originating house for further action.
Central Negros Occidental representatives Juliet Marie Ferrer (4th District), Francisco Benitez (3rd District) and Greg Gasataya (Bacolod Lone District), as well as Abang Lingkod party-list representative Stephen Paduano, sponsored the said bill.
NEPC signed last year a joint venture agreement (JVA) with Ceneco to improve power distribution service in the cooperative’s franchise areas.
Power Watch Negros secretary-general Wennie Sancho said sufficient and constant supply of electricity is indispensable for the economic development of Negros Occidental.
“The approval of the NEPC franchise and the implementation of the JVA will reduce power outages, and the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines is less likely to raise red or yellow alerts due to sufficient power supply and ancillary services,” he added./PN
