IF WE WERE to look at the ongoing MORE Electric & Power Corp. (MORE Power) and Panay Electric Co. (PECO) peep show as a football match, the score would be 3-nil with MORE taking the lead and we are almost towards the end of the match.
So how was MORE able to score a hat-trick against the seemingly solid defense of PECO, at the start of the regulation period or when PECO lost their franchise as the sole power provider of “I Am Iloilo City” when it expired last Jan. 19, 2019?
MORE Power immediately snatched a goal against the purportedly solid PECO defense when Congress awarded the franchise to the new kid on the block, making the score 1-nil in favor of MORE just at the start of the match.
Of course as expectedm PECO immediately protested the goal but to no avail and was confirmed beyond any doubt when Congress denied PECO’s second attempt to apply for a franchise.
The jam-packed Iloilo Sports Complex filled to the brim with natives of “I Am Iloilo City” all cheering and eagerly anticipating a victory by MORE dismissed the protest of PECO as the usual stunts of losers not aware that deep into the second half there would be more tantrums by PECO that would dwarf the antics of the “master” in “diving” Brazil’s Neymar Jr.
The first half ended with the millionaire “superstar” signings PECO’s equivalent of Real Madrid’s famed “Galacticos” failing to even come close to MORE’s 6 yard box protected by a superb goalkeeper and very strong defense of relatively unknown but talented fullbacks supported by equally talented midfielders and excellent strikers.
The first half action revealed that PECO was just all show, meaning all form but no substance, pretty boys but not up to the task in a real man’s game of football. Just good enough for autographs and selfies.
It brings to mind my high school footballing days when the “pretty boys” of La Salle Bacolod junior varsity football came to visit and played with us the “barakos” of San Agustin junior varsity football. Of course we made them eat dirt 6-nil. The game ended in our favor.
And we segue back to the match at hand:
The second half started with PECO’s overrated strikers managing to put the ball into MORE’s goal despite the strong defense put up by MORE’s fullbacks and this is how PECO scored that goal:
In July, the RTC in Mandaluyong City declared as void and unconstitutional MORE Power’s franchise for allegedly infringing on the right of PECO to due process and equal protection of the law.
Of course, MORE Power protested that goal and asked the Supreme Court to review the ruling of the RTC in Mandaluyong City.
After the review, the goal – which could have been the match’s equalizer – was disallowed.
On Dec. 3, 2019 the high court issued a Temporary Restraining Order against PECO and the Mandaluyong RTC from implementing the lower court’s decision declaring sections 10 and 17 of Republic Act No. 11212 (MORE Power’s franchise law) as unconstitutional.
And then MORE managed to snatch another goal with this:
Sections 10 and 17 granted MORE Power the power of eminent domain and to expropriate PECO’s assets.
So just a few minutes into the second half and MORE is already up 2-nil, with PECO looking desperate as it looks like they were going to lose the match of a lifetime.
Desperation sometimes brings out the best but not so in the case of PECO as all they manage were antics and tantrums ala Brazil’s Neymar Jr.
First there was that presscon faux pas involving ERC or the Energy Regulatory Commission in a “name dropping” stunt which earned the ire of ERC’s boss Agnes Devanadera.
And then we have PECO’s public engagement and government affairs head Marcelo Ugarte Cacho coming out in a press release that the lawyers of MORE Power bullied the judge handling their expropriation case. Seriously, any lawyer in his right mind would never bully a judge.
Of course, we also have press statements from him blaming telcos as the cause of the rash of pole fires on what “I Am Iloilo City” Mayor Geronimo described as PECO’s “inadequately-maintained lines, power outages and hazardous electric posts.”
Lately PECO’s Marcelo Ugarte Cacho shifted the blame, this time to illegal connections and “jumpers” as the cause of pole fires.
Brazil’s Neymar Jr.’s rolling in the pitch in “extreme pain” is nothing compared to these antics.
And then MORE scored a hat trick!
Excerpts from the Jan. 13, 2020 issue of Panay News:
PECO EXPRO CASE STAYS IN ILOILO – SC
The Supreme Court’s (SC) Second Division denied Panay Electric Co.’s (PECO) petition seeking to move outside of this city the expropriation case filed against it by MORE Electric and Power Corp. (MORE Power).
It dismissed as unmeritorious PECO’s argument that public scrutiny could affect the expropriation proceedings.
The case is currently being heard by the Regional Trial Court; Branch 35 presided by Judge Daniel Antonio Gerardo Amular.
“The mere possibility of prejudice is not sufficient
to justify a transfer of venue, as aptly argue (d) by respondent MORE,”
stressed the high court in a ruling dated Dec. 4, 2019 yet.
Curiously, just this Jan. 2 Amular issued a statement suggesting that the
expropriation case be transferred outside the jurisdiction of the RTC of Iloilo
because it has become “too politicized.”
The score now stands at MORE Power 3 and PECO nil, with time running out for PECO as the match is down to the last few minutes.
PECO needs a miracle to save itself. (brotherlouie16@gmail.com/PN)
