By Herbert Vego
TO Iloilo City Mayor Jerry P. Treñas, riding a bicycle is not just an enjoyable hobby. It fulfills individual needs, including the need to stay healthy. Cycling burns calories, hence a great way for the obese to lose weight while building strong muscles. In the long run, it boosts the immune system that is our main defense against diseases, including Covid-19.
What could be a more exciting way for bikers to push pedals than doing so along with a thousand others around 29 kilometers of roads where bicycle lanes have sprouted for their use?
MORE Electric and Power Corp. President Roel Z. Castro, himself a bike rider, agrees. No wonder his company is sponsoring a cycling event aimed at raising funds that would help the city expand and beautify the bicycle lanes.
Known as “Bisekleta Ko, Ka-Date Ko” it is meant to celebrate two February anniversaries being celebrated by MORE Electric and Power Corp. – February 14, the second anniversary of the law RA 11212 granting it the new 25-year franchise as a power-distribution utility in Iloilo City; and the first anniversary of the date (Feb. 28, 2020) when it replaced the previous franchisee, Panay Electric Co. (PECO), in accordance with the writ of possession issued by the Regional Trial Court of Iloilo.
Any hobbyist with a bicycle, helmet, face shield or eyeglasses and mask may join this fun ride come Sunday morning, February 28, for a registration fee of only one hundred pesos, which will be turned over to City Hall to fund the bicycle lanes’ improvement and beautification. In a sense, each participant thus becomes a “face lifter” of the metro’s bike lanes.
Participants not only earn the chance to win in the raffle for four brand-new mountain bikes; they would all be entitled to freebies from MORE Power that are worth much more than their registration fee.
More than a thousand bikers are expected. Among them are members of the Dumangas Bikers Association of Dumangas, Iloilo.
The 29-kilometer fun ride will kick off in front of Freedom Grandstand at the City Proper and cover the route leading to Molo, Mandurriao, Jaro, Lapaz and back to the starting point.
For pre-registration, please check the online link https://bit.ly/3tFvDCb
Successful pre-registrants may directly proceed to the registration area on site, sign, pay the PHP100 registration fee, and claim the freebies.
Well, count me in pag may taym.
MORE POWER GOES FIRST CIRCLE
THE bicycle fun ride on Sunday means that MORE Power has gone full circle in its first year of operation as the new 25-year power-distribution utility in Iloilo City. It was on the same date (Feb. 28) last year when the city sheriff served the Regional Trial Court’s writ of possession authorizing MORE to take over the facilities of the former franchisee, Panay Electric Co. (PECO).
President Duterte had actually signed the expropriation law (RA 11212) two years ago on Feb. 14, 2019, but a court battle between the two firms on the constitutionality of the expropriation had prevented a peaceful turnover.
The Supreme Court, however, subsequently came up with a non-unanimous decision (8-6) reversing the judgment of the Mandaluyong City (Branch 209) which had pinpointed Sections 10 and 17 of RA 11212 “unconstitutional”.
The franchise awarded to MORE is one of “eminent domain,” which refers to the power of government to take, or to authorize the taking of, private property for public use without the owner’s consent, conditioned upon payment of just compensation.
Under Republic Act No. 9136 or the “Electric Power Industry Reform Act” (EPIRA), “The costs for the acquisition, construction and the establishment of the power distribution system were allowed to be recovered through the retail rate approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), which retail rate covers full recovery of the costs/funds used to acquire, construct and establish these power distribution system assets.”
Section 10 of RA 11212 provides that “the grantee is authorized to exercise the power of eminent domain in so far as it may be reasonably necessary for the efficient establishment, improvement, upgrading, rehabilitation, maintenance and operation of its services.”
It also provides that MORE Power would pay PECO the amount of PHP481,842,450 as “just compensation” stipulated in Section 10.
Section 17 on transition is very specific: “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 Energy Regulatory Commission.”
Such a transition, however, has not yet gone beyond the proverbial birth pains. Just as Rome was not built in a day, it would take time to rehabilitate and upgrade the acquired substations, feeders and power lines that have gathered rust in decades. In the process of rehabilitation aimed at modernizing facilities, scheduled power outages could not be avoided.
We believe MORE President Roel Castro was sincere when he told us in an interview that he was giving himself three years to accomplish his modernization mission. Otherwise, its franchise could be canceled by an act of Congress acting on verified consumer complaints.
