WE HEARD power consumers in Iloilo City asking why their congressman, Rep. Jerry P. Treñas, has remained mum on the “power play” between Panay Electric Company (PECO) and MORE Electric and Power Corporation over the renewal or non–renewal of the former’s 25-year-franchise.
There were two congressmen – Gus Tambunting of Parañaque City and Franz Alvarez of Palawan, respectively – who filed two separate bills awarding to MORE the next 25-year energy franchise in the city. Why not Treñas?
I guess it’s because, even before he entered politics, Treñas had been the lead lawyer of PECO. He had to inhibit himself out of delicadeza.
I remember that in March 2017 the Sangguniang Panlungsod sought for a House probe of PECO following a public hearing called by Councilor R. Leone Gerochi, then chair of the committee on public utilities, in behalf of Councilor Joshua Alim to whom power consumers were complaining of padded PECO bills.
Treñas made no objection to the proposed congressional inquiry. He said, “Kon may ara dapat imbestigahon, imbestigahon.”
As a power consumer himself, Treñas would benefit from whatever disciplinary action the House probers would exert on PECO, especially because his wife and children run restaurants and bakeshops that consume mega electricity.
The then mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog, on the other hand, welcomed the congressional probe with these words: “Consumer protection is one of our top priorities. We will not tolerate overpricing and PECO has to be made accountable.”
Among the city consumers’ complaints against PECO were inaccurate meter readings, sudden rise in electric bills and unfair charges for system’s loss due to power pilferage. The late Panay News founder Danny Fajardo showed me his unusual residential power bill in the amount of P15,000.
“That’s more than an entire month’s salary of a minimum-wage worker!” I gasped in disbelief.
Alas, since no consumer-favorable result came out of that legislative inquiry, PECO inveigled Rep. Jesus Romualdo of Camiguin to file House Bill 6023 for renewal of its 25-year franchise that would expire on Jan. 19, 2019. The bill surprisingly “slept.”
Could it be that the other congressmen could not ignore the mounting complaints they were receiving from Ilonggos? While it claims to be selling residential electricity at more or less P13 per kilowatt hour, it charges other fees that sound Greek.
PECO boasts of having lasted 95-years in service. But are its incorporators not ashamed to have lasted that long without modernizing its facilities and low-cost made-in-China equipment?
While listening to Manila-based broadcaster Cesar Chavez on DzRH yesterday, I heard PECO’s administrative manager Marcelo Cacho trivializing the attempt of MORE to take over, allegedly because the latter has neither facilities nor resources to begin with.
Assuming that to be true, it is not without solution. The House-passed bill (House Bill No. 8302) grants MORE the power of eminent domain, giving it the right to expropriate the power firm upon expiration of its franchise.
But as Panay News reporter Glenda Tayona recently wrote, PECO is playing “hardball.” She quoted PECO lawyer Inocencio Ferrer as having said, “No, we will never sell our assets to a competitor.”
If PECO were meant to energize Iloilo City “forever,” then its franchise would not have been limited to 25 years and renewable only at the pleasure of Congress.
Incidentally, MORE’s president Roel Z. Castro is no stranger to the energy sector. He was president of Palm Concepcion Power Corporation, a coal-fired power plant in Concepcion, Iloilo that started operating in 2010. (hvego31@yahoo.com/PN)
