THE PLOT thickens as Resolution No. 010-2024: “A Resolution Earnestly Requesting the Bohol Congress Representatives to Include Our Municipalities in Bohol Light Company Inc. (BLCI) Franchise Area” was adopted by the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP), Bohol Chapter, on October 30, 2024, in Pasay City. It was signed by some town mayors of the province.
Normally, I would have drafted a technical article in response to the resolution of LMP-Bohol, but I thought I would leave that to Bohol I Electric Cooperative, Inc. (BOHECO I) and Bohol II Electric Cooperative, Inc. (BOHECO) II for now. They are competent to respond to the issues on “reliable and affordable electricity to meet rising power demand,” “electric cooperatives do not possess a constitutional right to exclusive franchises within their service area,” among others.
This development is astonishing on two counts.
First, I couldn’t quite comprehend why our three Bohol congress representatives seek a bill for BLCI whose franchise will expire on October 19, 2025, when BLCI itself had publicly announced that it has sold its entire 70% shareholding to Primelectric Holdings Inc., the parent company of MORE Electric and Power Corporation, and thus, Primelectric/MORE Power, now operates and maintains the distribution utility (DU) in Tagbilaran City. Given that, it is the responsibility of Primelectric/MORE Power to seek a congressional act to obtain a franchise. So, why are the three congress representatives of Bohol still using BLCI in its proposed bill? Go figure.
Let’s make it simple. Presently, BLCI’s unexpired franchise (up to October 19, 2025) is utilized by Primelectric/MORE Power as they run the DU in Tagbilaran City.
Second, LMP-Bohol piggybacks on the move by trying to amend the franchise to include municipalities presently served by BOHECO I and BOHECO II. How convoluted could this get!
Is this how governance is played right now by our elected leaders? Cutting corners for convenience? Or is this an orchestrated move right from the very beginning, leaving us in “shock and awe,” and completely paralyzed?
Let us not forget that the province of Bohol under its present leadership – just like that, without consulting the Boholano constituents, the Tagbilaran City residents who are served by BLCI – declined the earlier buyback offer depriving us – Boholanos and Tagbilaranons – an opportunity to be heard, to be consulted, to engage in a healthy debate, which is the essence of participatory democracy. The decision effectively silenced our voices. Do you like to be silenced? I do not.
That action violated the principle of good governance because the so-called leaders disregarded the people. That decision shunned people’s participation – it disempowered us, did not encourage consensus or agreement – it disempowered us, was not open to public scrutiny – scrutiny came only after the fact; after they had made the decision. What an ugly truth!
And now, here we are, facing another callous action of LMP-Bohol, who wants to join in the fray. Indeed, the plot thickens.
To be fair, not all Bohol town mayors signed the resolution. But what is the LMP-Bohol trying to tell us – the Boholano constituents, the Boholano community? That they, like the provincial government of Bohol, can just act unilaterally without consulting the stakeholders, the electric consumers of Bohol on a matter of grave importance? Electricity is not an exclusive domain of the little few. It is a community issue, a community concern. How powerful have they become that they can just one-sidedly decide on behalf all the power stakeholders and electric consumers of Bohol?
On several occasions I have asked myself how power rottenly corrupts. A quite simple test is when elected officials behave like they are little gods, making decisions without consulting the people. That is an action that we should all remember. If your so-called leaders no longer consult you on decisions whose consequences affect the entire community and future generations of Boholanos, then they have become little gods, tyrants, and no longer deserve our respect and trust. They are a disgrace to democracy, an anathema to people participation, and a rotten hole in good governance.
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The writer hosts Woman Talk with Belinda Sales every Saturday, 10 a.m. at 91.1 Balita FM Tagbilaran City. Email at belindabelsales@gmail.com. X @ShilohRuthie./PN
