“LEVEL up! Level up!”
We often hear Mayor Jerry P. Treñas shout those words in addressing the people of Iloilo City, echoing his determination to skyrocket the city to world-class status.
To hit that level, this city has to seize opportunities presenting themselves through industrial titans who are willing to invest billions of pesos in the infrastructure needed to boost economic growth.
But how could this be done when Iloilo City has snagged in the doldrums due to the unresolved “power struggle” between Panay Electric Co. (PECO) and MORE Electric and Power Corp. (MORE Power)?
It has already been more than seven months since Jan. 19 this year when PECO lost its 25-year franchise as sole electricity distributor to the new player, MORE Power. And yet PECO remains in business by virtue of a temporary certificate of public convenience and necessity (CPCN) issued by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) in the pendency of the court cases they had lodged against each other.
It would be redundant to summarize these cases filed before the regional trial courts in Iloilo City and Mandaluyong City. These have been lengthily reported in the tri-media as deterrents to immediate PECO-to-MORE turnover.
Of more paramount importance today is to end their rivalry, which could have already ended had PECO, with no more franchise to operate, yielded to the rule of law (Republic Act 11212) as passed by Congress and approved by the President.
This corner has been asked for my two cents’ worth on why Mayor Treñas has never stepped in to reconcile the men behind the two companies in order for them to work together in a smooth transition, which is only possible by operation of law.
That transition is specified by Section 17 of RA 11212: “Panay Electric Co. (PECO) shall in the interim be authorized to operate the existing distribution system within the franchise area… until the establishment or acquisition by the grantee of its own distribution system and its complete transition towards full operations as determined by the ERC.”
The transition period covers two straight years, according to Section 11, but the new franchise could be revoked if the franchisee “fails to operate” within that period.
Could PECO be biding time, hoping to see MORE Power’s franchise revoked after two years?
Going back to Mayor Treñas, we had a few minutes’ chat on the telephone on Wednesday (Aug. 21) as to whether he would step in to pave the way for MORE Power, if only to speed up modernization of the city’s obsolete power distribution system.
“I will,” he vowed, “as soon as the Court issues a writ of possession.”
That assurance should disabuse the belief of some pessimists who spread the yarn that the mayor would keep his hands off because of his good relations with the PECO management.
Judge Yvette Go of RTC-Iloilo Branch 37 has already approved MORE Power’s application for the writ of possession, which would authorize the sheriff to expropriate PECO’s facilities in exchange for “just compensation” to be determined by the Court.
The final ball in the expropriation process is now in the hands of Judge Daniel Antonio Gerardo Amular of RTC-Iloilo Branch 35.
The better news is that the modernization of power distribution would hasten the entry of billionaire Enrique Razon (chair of MORE Power) into expansion and modernization of sea ports in the city and province of Iloilo.
Incidentally, Razon’s International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) has been providing world-class port terminal services in Manila, Subic, Batangas and General Santos City. (hvego31@gmail.com/PN)
