OUR CONSTITUTION is closely aligned to the American Constitution which appeared 200 years earlier (1987 and 1787).
When the Americans formulated their Constitution, they were smarting under what they considered to be dictatorial measures, particularly with regard to taxation, from the British King George III.
The American Founding Fathers devised a Constitution with explicit separation of powers so that no area of government dominated any other. Specifically, the President’s powers were curtailed by the authority of the Legislative and Judicial branches.
We are currently seeing a spectacular example of this where President Trump is meeting serious resistance from the House of Representatives (Speaker: Nancy Pelosi) in connection with funding to erect a physical barrier between the United States and its southern neighbor, Mexico.
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The foregoing has relevance to the electricity supply situation in Iloilo. In this case it is the Legislative Branch which has approved the concept of transferring the franchise from Panay Electric Company (PECO) to MORE Power. The Executive Branch, specifically Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi, has the responsibility to ensure that Iloilo denizens will not be disadvantaged by the transfer.
MORE Power, originally citing the doctrine of “eminent domain” (compulsory purchase) over PECO’s assets has superficially softened its tone recently but does not make it clear as to how the transition can take place smoothly.
Meanwhile, PECO is still “serving our beloved Iloilo City” even though its franchise expired Jan. 18.
We frequently look to the Legislative Branch, elected by the people, to curtail high-handedness from unelected officials of the Executive branch. In this case, however, we look to the Department of Energy to ensure that our electricity supply situation is safe. This means that it is incumbent on MORE Power to explain how this can be done. So far, it has failed to do this. I hope it will.
MORE Power says that it is “all set and ready to operate.”
Really? How?
Surely it can only do this with the active co-operation of PECO with which MORE Power has developed an adversarial relationship.
Why should PECO contribute to its own demise?
It seems that MORE Power wants to gain control of multi-billion peso operation for an investment of around P700 million, according to its proposed capital expenditure program.
What has MORE Power done to recruit the expertise necessary to operate an expanding and flourishing electricity environment?
At a speech in Puerto Princesa last November, President Duterte showed an understanding of the electricity supply issues in Iloilo. We hope he will show the necessary leadership.
On this occasion, we need the Executive Branch’s authority over a capricious Legislative Branch which has too easily allocated the franchise to MORE Power./PN
