THE timely entry of MORE Electric and Power Corp. (MORE Power) has kept Iloilo City energized “24/7” despite the onset of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Thanks to its well-trained engineers and electricians for tearing down obsolete facilities and installing world-class replacements.
Incidentally, around 50 of MORE’S technical men used to work for PECO.
Mayor Jerry Treñas has publicly acknowledged MORE Power for having lived up to his “level up” challenge; and chastised its predecessor, Panay Electric Co. (PECO), for besmirching MORE Power at this time when they should be collaborating in the transition process.
On March 18, PECO alleged in a press release that MORE Power would bill higher rates because its meters “cost approximately twice the price of PECO’s.”
Alas, the consumers know better. Remember, one of the complaints they raised in asking Congress to junk the application for renewal of PECO’s franchise was inaccurate billing that resulted in “excessive overcharging,” thus forcing the overcharged “victims” to pay on installment.
The mayor recently issued a public notice expressing dismay over the published ads of PECO peddling the lie that it is still the legitimate power distributor, thus sowing confusion among energy consumers.
“More Power is now the bonafide and legitimate distribution utility in Iloilo City,” Treñas wrote, ”for having been issued the authority to operate by the Energy Regulatory Commission and for having an existing legislative franchise.”
It makes no sense that PECO’s administrative officer, Marcelo Castro, would utter obvious lies against the new player that so far has kept its promise of “hitting the ground running.”
When reached for comment, MORE Power’s president, Roel Z. Castro, simply said, “What counts is that we have kept power flowing smoothly where needed most, as in hospitals, in support of the mayor’s modernization program.”
MORE’S capital expenditure for the next three years amounts to P1.8 billion.
Nothing that PECO now says against its successor would reverse the law — passed by Congress on December 11, 2018, and approved by President Rodrigo Duterte on February 14, 2019 – awarding to MORE Power the new 25-year franchise to convey electricity to the end-users in Iloilo City.
Judge Emerald Requina-Contreras of the lloilo Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 23 could not be wrong in debunking PECO’s ”unconstitutional” tag against RA 11212 when she issued a writ of possession “to protect the public interest of the people of Iloilo City and its businesses, and to ensure the uninterrupted supply of electricity.”
She stressed, “RA 11212 continues to be operative under the doctrine of presumption of constitutionality of the laws.”
Rather than cry over spilled milk, the Cacho family as a major owner of PECO should find a silver lining in the second phase of the expropriation battle as explicitly stated in Section 10 of RA 11212, obliging MORE Power to pay PECO “just compensation” for its distribution assets.
As I have repeatedly said in this corner, MORE Power has already escrowed at Landbank the exact amount of P481,842,450 as “just compensation” based on PECO’s tax declaration, subject to the court’s approval.
Should PECO find the amount insufficient, it may ask MORE for more. But this could be easier said than done because of the “bonus” nature of “just compensation.” In other words, the cost of distribution facilities of PECO has already been paid for by power users, embedded in their monthly bills.
Had the Cachos negotiated with MORE executives while the expropriation battle was raging in court, to quote Leopoldo “Doods” Moragas – retired senior assistant vice-president at the Philippine National Bank — “they could have leveraged for a higher amount.” (hvego31@gmail.com /PN)
