WELL…well, who would have thought that a company conceptualized and initially formed in Manila and owned by a billionaire also from Manila would turn out to be more Ilonggo – in fact a much better Ilonggo – than a company that used to brag and claim to be born and bred in “I Am Iloilo City”.
It’s not that stranger things have happened; it is just taking seriously a company’s duties and responsibilities as a good corporate citizen wherever the host city maybe, in this case “I Am Iloilo City”.
MORE Electric and Power Corp. or MORE Power a.k.a. Nong Moroy — “I Am Iloilo City’s current power distribution utility – took just two years to turn an ageing, dilapidated and critically hazardous power distribution network into an up-to-date (not yet state-of-the-art but they’ll get there) efficient power distribution network, establish a good working public relations / customer service for the natives and seriously run after electric jumpers or Illegalistas.
Brownouts or power interruptions have been reduced to a minimal level and if they do occur, power is almost immediately restored because of Automatic Circuit Reclosers.
I’m not even going to elaborate that in less than 24 hours after the wrath of Typhoon Odette, 97% of power was back in the city.
By the way, after almost 100 years, PECO a.k.a. Don Pecoy – erstwhile power distribution utility of “I Am Iloilo City” – failed to achieve even a semblance of any of the above.
So how does Nong Moroy fulfill his role as a good corporate citizen for “I Am Iloilo City”?
Nong Moroy formed the Partners in Power Foundation to bring a little more light to our city. The foundation has already made strides in providing that light for the Ilonggos: the rehabilitation of barangays, supporting the different advocacies of the Ilonggos, and doing its part in helping our frontliners during this pandemic.
In two years time the foundation has already partnered with 20 different organizations. MORE Power and Partners in Power Foundation launched the Barangay Ticud Rehabilitation to provide the community with electricity services.
This P2.1-million rehabilitation program will finally give the residents of Barangay Ticud a stable supply of electricity. MORE Power worked with the La Filipina Uygongco Group of the rehabilitation project by MORE Power will benefit and energize more than 625 households in Barangay Ticud.
In its first two years, MORE Power participated in planting trees and mangroves, and releasing of fingerlings and juvenile fishes to enliven the Iloilo River. The distribution utility also adopted an entire mangrove park and supported a city-wide urban gardening, including sponsoring a “Bike Fun Ride for a Cause” wherein 100% of the proceeds were donated to buy plant pots for the city’s bike lanes.
Last year, MORE Power donated almost P1 million worth of facemasks, alcohol, hand sanitizers, and acetate as aid for frontliners. The company also donated 500 rapid test kits to the Iloilo City Government.
This year, the distribution utility donated generator sets for vaccination centers, energized checkpoints for border control, gave thousands of AstraZeneca vaccines, and facilitated the procurement of Moderna vaccines for the Philippine Chamber of Commerce (PCCI) – Iloilo Chapter
At the height of the pandemic last year when Christmas parties and other celebrations were prohibited, MORE Power through the foundation donated what was supposed to be the budget for the Christmas party to schools and charitable institutions i.e. Assumption Iloilo and St. Paul’s University Iloilo for their charitable outreach programs.
Our fellow Ilonggos across the sea in Negros were also hit by the onslaught of Typhoon Odette in fact much worse than us and needed help. MORE Power almost immediately mobilized a team to augment Task Force Kapatid of the Department of Energy (DoE), National Electrification Administration (NEA), and the Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives Association, Inc. (PHILRECA) in the restoration works being undertaken by the Negros Occidental Electric Cooperative (NOCECO).
The MORE Power team is composed of engineers, line warriors, and customer care staff, equipped with the necessary tools and equipment and stayed in the province till the job was done.
The team did not just help fast-track the power restoration in Negros Occidental but also distributed aid to families reeling from the aftermath of Typhoon Odette.
MORE Power, together with the Central Negros Electric Cooperative (CENECO) and Negros Occidental Electric Cooperative (NOCECO), prepared relief goods for the typhoon victims.
For that humanitarian effort, the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Negros Occidental cited the efforts of MORE Power in helping the neighboring island.
The legislative body passed Resolution No. 1114-2021, “recognizing the efforts of More Electric and Power Corp. (MORE Power) and thanking them for their contribution and assistance given to the Negros Occidental Electric Cooperative to restore power in areas devastated by Super Typhoon Odette.”
It is these acts of kindness aside from fulfilling his role as the power distribution utility that endeared Nong Moroy in the hearts and minds of the Ilonggos. brotherlouie16@gmail.com)/PN
