By Francis Allan L. Angelo
The legal counsel of Panay Electric Co. (PECO) branded as false and malicious reports that the distribution utility duped its consumers by buying a luxury car using consumer funds.
In a letter to Daily Guardian dated Aug 4, 2020, Divina Law responded to the allegations of Halley Alcarde of Western Visayas Transport Cooperative (WVTC) and Raymundo Parcon of Iloilo City Loop Alliance of Jeepney Operators and Drivers Association (ICLAJODA).
The letter was signed by lawyers Nilo T. Divina, Estrella C. Elamparo, John Michael S. Galauran, Rhegine T. Peralta, Anna Camille C. Himala, and Ramon T. Conducto II.
The allegations of Alcarde and Parcon were the subject a story published in this paper on July 31, 2020 with the headline “Consumers call for probe on PECO over BMW car.”
In gist, the two transport leaders insinuated that PECO purchased a luxury BMW using consumers’ money.
Divina Law said the allegations were nothing but “a bold-faced lie.”
According to the law office, PECO did buy a second-hand BMW which was used by the government for the APEC Summit in 2015.
“The records will clearly show that said purchase was an administrative expense that was charged to PECO’s own account. Contrary to the false claims being peddled to media outlets, the said expense NEVER became part of any of the amounts billed to consumers, as is PECO’s practice with its administrative expenditures. Therefore, it is an utter and malicious lie that the consumers were made to pay even a single centavo,” it added.
Divina Law also said that the expenses for the BMW car was never included in the capital expenditures of PECO.
“Moreover, the expense was never included in PECO’s ERC (Energy Regulatory Commission)-approved capital expenditure. It will be noted that the Performance Based Rate Increase under the ERC Rules has been suspended since 2013 and PECO never applied for any emergency capex,” it added.
Also, there is nothing irregular in the sale of the BMW car to PECO president and CEO Luis Miguel Cacho as it was “made under a company car plan that allows officers to re-purchase a company-issued vehicle after a specific period of time.”
“This is not unusual, but rather a common policy that is regularly offered by many companies to its employees and officers. To insinuate bad faith and malice based on flimsy allegations reeks of desperation to tarnish PECO’s hard-earned name and goodwill,” Divina Law said.
The law firm said those who claim irregularities in the BMW car deal should file complaints with the proper forum.
“If these claims had any legal footing, they should have been brought to the proper forum instead of libelously ventilated to the media without any basis whatsoever. The recent barrage of lies to besmirch PECO’s reputation appears to be an orchestrated demolition job to paint PECO in a bad light.”
The law firm vowed to pursue legal actions against those who besmirched its client’s reputation.
“Unfortunately for its detractors, PECO’s almost century-long service is strongly anchored on integrity and its own hard work. Baseless allegations of dishonesty will be properly dealt with under the law.”
