ILOILO City – Iloilo Electric Cooperative (Ileco) I, II and III vowed to continue serving member consumers while facing a challenge to their franchise areas.
Republic Act 11918 or MORE Electric and Power Corporation’s (MORE Power) expanded franchise law expands the coverage area of Iloilo City’s sole power distributor to 15 municipalities and one city which are covered by Ileco I and II namely, Pavia, Santa Barbara, Alimodian, Leon, San Miguel, New Lucena, Zarraga, Leganes, Dumangas, Barotac Nuevo, Dingle, Dueñas, Banate, Anilao, San Enrique, and Passi City.
“If they want to enter our area, we are not stopping them. If they are going to compete with us, fair and square, we are not afraid,” said Atty. James G. Balsomo, general manager of Ileco III, during yesterday’s yearend media conference.
“Personally this has been my stand, I could not see anything within industry standard that they could do or perform better than anyone of us (Ileco I, II and III),” he added.
As to the issue of “takeover”, Balsomo said it is a legally debatable matter.
On the possibility of having a business venture with MORE Power, Balsomo said, “it is really off the table right now.”
He added that they will just continue focusing on their mandate – total rural electrification.
Ileco I and II’s respective general managers, Engr. Miguel A. Paguntalan Jr. and Engr. Jose Redmond Eric S. Roquios, echoed Balsomo’s sentiment.
Paguntalan also revealed they have filed a petition for certiorari before the Supreme Court against MORE Power’s expanded franchise law.
“We are not really thinking about coexistence (with MORE Power) because the truth is we have filed our petition for certiorari in the Supreme Court. Unless that cannot be resolved, we cannot entertain any talks,” Paguntalan said.
The Ileco I manager stressed that the path moving forward for them is to continue their service.
“We have strategic plans that we’ll be doing next year so that itself is a path forward for the benefit of our constituents, to improve our service, to upgrade our facilities, to better equip and strengthen our management,” he added./PN
