ILOILO City – Brownouts bugging power consumers here following MORE Electric and Power Corp.’s (MORE Power) takeover of Panay Electric Co.’s (PECO) power distribution facilities have prompted certain legislators to call for a congressional investigation.
In House Resolution No. 785, Rep. Sonny Lagon of Ako Bisaya party-list urged Congress to probe “the status of the distribution of electricity in Iloilo City to ensure that power distribution will not cease and that the people of Iloilo will not be affected.”
“Ang concern ko lang talaga is ‘yung mga consumers ng Iloilo. Sana hindi sila ma-apektuhan, lalo na ngayong pandemic. Ang problema talaga is ‘yung mga long brownouts na nangyayari,” said Lagon on May 22 in a virtual Kapihan ng Samahang Plaridel.
The most recent (May 17) power interruption was the 13-hour brownout due to maintenance work at a substation undertaken by MORE Power – an activity done in the peak of a summer month and while the country is at the height of battling a pandemic and people are required to stay at home.
“Before kasi, noong si PECO nag-operate diyan, hindi naman talaga na-experience ng mga tao ng Iloilo City ang mga ganitong brownouts,” said Lagon. He then pointed out MORE Power’s lack of proper facilities.
He added: “Kung umasa lang sila sa MORE Power sa ngayon na wala pang kumpletong facilities, talagang hindi maiwasan na magkaroon ng mga brownouts sa Iloilo City.”
On the other hand, Rep. Presley De Jesus of the Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives Association noted that the nation’s power supply is enough right now due to the decreased commercial use of electricity. When asked about the unusually long brownouts in Iloilo City, he responded with dismay.
“A 13-hour brownout is not acceptable, especially since we are in a crisis ngayon,” he said.
“Some big private investors seem to want to take over the power industry which may adversely affect small electric cooperatives in the country,” he added. “We need to protect electric cooperatives from being taken over by private investors branded as ‘electric coop killers’ that are only after profits and not the welfare of cooperative members and the cooperatives’ customers.”
The brownouts in Iloilo City could have been averted through the installation of a mobile substation, according to experts.
MORE Power had promised the congressional franchise committee in late 2018 that it would procure a mobile substation. To date, it still has not installed one.
The 13-hour brownout on May 17 was done in a substation that mostly services residential power consumers. With the scorching summer heat and the pandemic forcing Ilonggos to stay in their homes, people were forced to suffer during the preventive maintenance.
Before this, there were other reported electricity service interruptions that inconvenienced Iloilo City consumers in March and April.
Representative Lagon sought an immediate investigation in aid of legislation “to ensure that the people of Iloilo City shall not suffer, and that electricity shall continue to be distributed to them despite the legal battle between PECO and MORE, and to come out with the necessary legislation for this purpose.”
In the history of the Philippine power sector, according to Lagon, it is the first time that the power distribution facilities of a private company has been forcibly taken by another private entity armed only with a public utility franchise issued by Congress.
“Dumaan naman sa due process pero sabihin na nating hilaw,” stressed Lagon.
PECO asserts that the assets being used for electricity distribution in Iloilo City remains under its rightful ownership even if its franchise expired in January 2019.
By preference, Congress granted a 25-year franchise to MORE Power. The subsequent writ of possession and operating license granted to it by authorities warranted the takeover by MORE Power of the electricity distribution in Iloilo City even without putting up its own facilities, besides its apparent lack of track record and technical expertise in operating a power distribution system. As noted by industry sources, this should have been a key requirement because power distribution is a business imbued with public interest.
Representative Lagon said, “There is a need for the House of Representatives to look into this to ensure that the supply of electricity in Iloilo City will not be affected and that the people of Iloilo City shall not suffer because of the legal battle between the two distribution utilities.”
In a 10-page Urgent Motion for Inhibition filed recently, PECO moved for the inhibition of Iloilo Regional Trial Court presiding Judge Emerald Requina- Contreras, claiming she showed preferential treatment to MORE Power in several instances, thereby rendering doubt to her independence and impartiality.
The Motion for Inhibition, included a prayer for the suspension of proceedings until this motion is resolved, is pending in the court./PN
