By Herbert Vego
“The more we get together
Together, together
The more we get together
The happier we’ll be…”
WHERE were you when you first heard that old camp song?
That song takes us back to our kindergarten and primary-school days when we would gleefully sing it in class, feeling the truism behind its lyrics.
We hope it rekindles the value of cooperation in the minds of “power players” in Iloilo City — Panay Electric Co. (PECO) and MORE Electric and Power Corp. (MORE Power) — who remain enmeshed in a counterproductive business clash.
To put it bluntly, the two companies must collaborate. Any attempt on the part of PECO to ruin the reputation of MORE Power would boomerang.
It’s because MORE Power possesses the new 25-year legislative franchise and certificate of public convenience and necessity (CPCN) from the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) as the new electricity distributor in Iloilo City.
It would be futile for PECO to disregard the law (RA 11212) which provided for the takeover via expropriation. The law is the law unless or until amended by Congress or deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
To say that MORE Power does not have the right facilities to run the system is to accuse PECO of negligence to upgrade the equipment it has passed on to the former.
To say that MORE Power does not have the experience and expertise is also erroneous because its technical crew is made up of experienced former PECO employees.
Therefore, it it’s true that PECO had sought the “services” of two party-list congressmen to call for a congressional investigation on “inefficiency” of MORE Power, which is allegedly the cause of long brownouts, it would expose the fact that PECO had failed to upgrade its “bulok” or worn-out substations and feeders.
It would support MORE Power’s claim that the substations are in dire need of modernization within three years. Meanwhile, preventive maintenance entailing brownouts has to be done to save them from burning out.
If PECO had nothing to do with the move of party-list congressmen Sonny Lagon (Ako Bisaya) and Presley De Jesus (PHILRECA), why are they suddenly “concerned” about the power outages that Ilonggos have been complaining against for decades?
Should the House grant Lagon’s probe call under House Resolution No. 785, it would only succeed in retracing the circumstances that had preceded disapproval of PECO’s application for renewal of franchise that expired on January 19, 2019.
The House disapproved its application for renewal partly because PECO had not complied with the order of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to refund P631 million in overbilling of customers.
The House had also given credence to the Sangguniang Panglunsod’s resolution specifying individual complaints against PECO over erroneous billings, poor customer service, overcharging, fire-prone leaning poles, “spaghetti” wirings, wrong readings and power pilferage leading to system’s loss chargeable to paying subscribers.
If I may say my two cents’ worth, PECO would gain not just peace of mine but also a “just compensation” as embodied in the expropriation law, subject to final judgment by the court. MORE Power has escrowed the amount of P481,842,450 at the Landbank for that purpose.
The amount could be considered “bonus,” the cost of the distribution utility having been embedded in the customers’ monthly bills, hence fully recovered.
As Judge Emerald Requina-Contreras of the RTC Branch 23 reiterated in issuing the writ of possession against PECO, “The primary goal of the court is a smooth and peaceful transition of operation to protect the public interest.” (hvego31@gmail.com)
