FOR ALMOST a year MORE Electric and Power Corp. (MORE Power) and Panay Electric Co. (PECO) have been literally and figuratively in a power struggle over who should be the sole power provider of “I Am Iloilo City”.
This is quite stupid really as legally speaking PECO should no longer be in the picture as it lost its franchise to do so last Jan. 19, 2019 and Congress did not renew it, opting instead to grant the franchise to the new kid on the block, MORE Power.
It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that franchises like this are not a right, rather these are privileges granted by an act of Congress. Meaning, if your ancestors have been the power provider of “I Am Iloilo City” for a hundred years, it is not part of your inheritance as Congress can take it away the moment it expires and give it to who they see fit to take over.
Indeed, as simple as that unless, of course, one party makes it complicated and gets into all sorts of tantrums. In this case, PECO has grown quite attached also literally and figuratively to the franchise which legally is no longer theirs in the first place.
So from all sorts of one-upmanship including press releases, social media information and disinformation campaigns and delaying tactics, the power struggle has shifted and focused in the courtrooms.
PECO is well aware that utility franchises such as this one has a two-year lifespan for the holder, in this case MORE Power, to set up shop and will lose it if by that time they haven’t done so. And the franchise is again up for grabs in Congress.
I’m just guessing here but PECO’s game plan seems to be to wait it out for a friendlier administration and Congress, after all they have the advantage of a temporary Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) from the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).
But even that temporary CPCN from the ERC is still on shaky ground as PECO has acquired the ire of ERC Chairperson Agnes Devanadera for a name-dropping stunt in one of their presscons.
On top of that, the review conducted by ERC showed that most of the pole fires in “I Am Iloilo City” were caused by PECO electrical cables and that they presented a threat to life and property of the natives.
To add spice to that, PECO has also pissed off “I Am Iloilo City” Mayor Geronimo that he threatened to have their property auctioned off for non-payment of real estate taxes since 2006 and operating without a business permit resulting in them paying P134, 927,522.63 (covering PECO’s past and present real property tax).
PECO has no choice but to pay because MORE Power is all set to buy all their property at the public auction. Of course they still owe “I Am Iloilo City” some P37 million also in real property taxes now under litigation.
Now all these uncertainties is making “I Am Iloilo City” Mayor Geronimo jittery as no matter how hard he pushes for the city to “level up” there’s still that unstable power irritation hanging over his head.
It seems that PECO’s tantrums are making a mockery of Mayor Geronimo’s “level up”.
And we segue to what’s happening in court in the ongoing MORE and PECO peep show:
Excerpts from the Dec. 20, 2019 issue of Panay News:
MORE POWER SUES JUDGE BEFORE SC
MORE Electric and Power Corp. (MORE Power) has filed an administrative complaint against Regional Trial Court Branch 35’s Judge Daniel Antonio Gerardo S. Amular before the Supreme Court (SC).
Filed on Dec. 12, MORE Power legal counsel Hector P. Teodosio and Chief Operating Officer Roel Castro specifically sued Amular for grave misconduct, gross ignorance of the law and violation of the Code of Judicial Conduct.
The administrative complaint was in connection with the manner Amular presided over the expropriation case filed by MORE Power against Panay Electric Co. (PECO).
The complainants stated that Amular, in forcing MORE to settle the expropriation case, threatened Castro that he could suspend the case or that the case could drag on for years.
They claimed that Amular made good this threat when he suspended the expropriation proceedings after MORE Power did not submit an offer for settlement as shown in the Order dated Nov. 18, 2019.
Not to take this lying down, PECO’s Public Engagement and Government Affairs Head Marcelo Ugarte Cacho said in a press release that MORE Power bullied RTC Judge Amular, the subject of MORE’s administrative complaint in the Supreme Court. It is rather curious why Marcelo Ugarte Cacho would come to the defense of the judge in question.
And then we have this from the Jan. 3, 2020 issue of Panay News:
PECO-MORE ROW TOO POLITICIZED – Judge
The expropriation case of MORE Electric and Power Corp. (MORE Power) against Panay Electric Co. (PECO) has become too politicized, according to Judge Daniel Antonio Gerardo Amular of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Iloilo, Branch 35. “For the best interest of the parties” he suggested that the case be transferred outside the jurisdiction of the RTC of Iloilo “to be tried and heard by the designated judged therein.”
Meanwhile the natives of “I Am Iloilo City” are still suffering power failures and high electricity rates. (brotherlouie16@gmail.com/PN)
