Meddle – interfere or busy oneself unduly with something that is not one’s concern (The New Oxford American Dictionary)
No Meddling
It was reported last week that Iloilo City mayor Jose Espinosa III will not meddle in the ongoing congressional deliberations on two franchise applications for power distribution in the city. Nevertheless it would not be inappropriate for the Mayor to make representations on behalf of the hapless denizens who are uncertain as to what is going to happen.
The clock is ticking loudly.
Panay Electric Company’s (PECO) franchise expires in 12 weeks.
Earlier this year PECO made an application for the franchise to be extended for a further 25 years. It may have been over-confident that this application would be approved. Anecdotal evidence suggested that PECO and its staff did not always operate at the cutting edge of customer care philosophy. Backchat from snippy cashiers was one area of concern. But reliability of supply is fairly good and much better than that offered by Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco) where unscheduled brownouts happen too frequently.
Anyhow the franchise committee of the House of Representatives has not yet approved (or disapproved) of PECO’s application.
Meanwhile, out of the blue, More Minerals Corporation (MMC) has applied for the franchise. A name change from MMC to More Electric and Power Corporation (More Power) is cosmetic but hopefully reflects a seriousness of purpose. More Power’s bid is seemingly dependent on PECO being prepared to sell its assets. PECO says it will not do this.
It seems that PECO’s application cannot be rejected out of hand. If the franchise committee is not too confident about PECO’s bid, then it would be practical to renew the franchise for a further year so that by this time next year a permanent decision may be made.
***
A possibly complicating factor is that Solar Para sa Bayan Corp (SPSB) is applying for a non-exclusive franchise to parts of the Philippines that may want alternative choices for electric service. The application of SPSB is being sought in Congress.
We live in interesting times.
***
Meddling
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) secretary Ramon Lopez said last week that retailers may be permitted to directly import rice and sugar, but retail prices will be set by government. This seems to be variance with President Duterte’s Administrative Order 13 which instructed the National Food Authority (NFA), Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA), and DTI to remove administrative constraints and non-tariff barriers in the importation of agricultural products.
Is DTI’s proposal an example of meddling?/PN
