INDEED, the dream is finally moving toward reality. What began as a vision of MORE Electric and Power Corporation (MORE Power) — “I Am Iloilo City’s” sole power distribution utility — is now just a few steps away from being fully realized.
Imagine a unified Iloilo — city and province — served by a single electric utility that delivers reliable service, competitive rates, and excellent customer care across the board.
Would this help spread economic growth more evenly across the province?
Absolutely. A unified system would allow investments and development to radiate from the city outward into neighboring towns, bringing increased employment opportunities, higher tax revenues, and broader community benefits.
And it took a power couple — Miag-ao mayor Richard Garin and 1st District representative Janette Garin — to bring this possibility to the people of the 1st District.
Who would have thought that Mayor Richard Garin would ask their Sangguniang Bayan to pass a resolution urging Rep. Janette Garin to sponsor legislation that would include the municipality in the franchise area of MORE Power? Yet this is exactly what happened.
Resolution No. B2025-010 appeals to Rep. Janette Garin to sponsor or author a measure amending Republic Act (RA) No. 11918 so that Miag-ao — currently under the service area of Iloilo I Electric Cooperative (ILECO I) — may be brought within MORE Power’s expanded franchise coverage.
True to form, Cong. Janette Garin filed House Bill No. 6292, seeking to expand MORE Power’s franchise to seven municipalities in the 1st District: Igbaras, Tubungan, Oton, Tigbauan, Guimbal, Miag-ao, and San Joaquin.
The measure has already been submitted to the Bills and Index Service of the House of Representatives.
In her explanatory note, Garin said the bill amends provisions of RA 11212, as amended by RA 11918, which currently authorizes MORE Power to operate as a distribution utility in Iloilo City and in several municipalities in the 2nd and 4th Districts, including Passi City.
Garin stressed that the proposed expansion would allow MORE Power “to establish, operate, and maintain, for commercial purposes and in the public interest, a distribution system for the conveyance of electric power to end users in the 1st District.” (PN 11/25/2025)
According to Garin, in just five years, MORE Power has helped reduce electric rates in Iloilo City from among the highest in the country to among the lowest. Customer coverage also expanded significantly — from 63,000 to 101,000 — while the company carried out sustained rehabilitation of what she described as “aging and decrepit” facilities inherited from the previous operator.
“We believe that such service, marked by high standards and proven to be fast, reliable, responsive, modern, and forward-looking, should also be made available to Ilonggos living outside Iloilo City,” she said.
Garin acknowledged that the towns in the 1st District are currently served by ILECO I, but emphasized that competition is allowed — and even encouraged — under the Constitution.
“The Constitution is clear: no franchise for a public utility shall be exclusive in character,” Garin said, citing Section 11, Article XII of the 1987 Constitution.
“Public interest will be better served if we allow competition that gives Ilonggos in the 1st District a choice — to access modern, dependable, affordable, and efficient electric distribution services already being enjoyed by Iloilo City residents. It is the right time to do this, to continue the progress of Iloilo City, and to jump-start development in the nearby parts of Iloilo Province.”
Garin also pointed out that the Supreme Court had affirmed both RA 11212 and RA 11918, upholding their validity and recognizing that the expansion of MORE Power’s franchise was anchored on promoting the common good.
With this new development in the 1st District, it appears that the pieces are finally falling into place for the long-envisioned “One Iloilo, One Rate, One Provider” movement./PN
