Consumer group bats for MORE Power-ILECO 1 joint venture

By Herbert Vego

MOST residents of the 1st District of Iloilo welcome Rep. Janette Garin’s bill, House Bill 7647, which would allow MORE Electric and Power Corp. (MORE Power) to compete with the Iloilo 1 Electric Cooperative (ILECO 1).

But there’s a better alternative.

That is how a regional consumer organization, Bantay ng Bayan-101 (BNB-101), echoes the clamor of residents of the seven municipalities of the 1st District — Guimbal, Igbaras, Tubungan, Oton, Tigbauan, Miag-ao, and San Joaquin — in their quest for a more reliable energy distribution utility (DU).

Garin’s bill would enable MORE Power to expand its coverage from Iloilo City to the 1st District.

Having passed the House of Representatives, it could breeze through the Senate, too.

That is because of a Supreme Court (SC) decision dated June 13, 2025, which upheld the legality of MORE Power’s franchise expansion beyond Iloilo City.

Let us listen to our two resource persons who appeared on the talk show “Tribuna sang Banwa” on Aksyon Radyo-Iloilo, with Facebook Live coverage, last Sunday, July 5, from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.

They were Raul Cordova, BNB-101 regional director, and Warren Briones, barangay chairman of Barangay Buyuan, Tigbauan, Iloilo, who is also the spokesperson of BNB-101 in the 1st District.

“We used to look forward to competition between the cooperative and the private power distributor,” Cordova told program hosts Neri Camiña, Nermie Camiña, and this writer. “Competition would grant energy consumers the freedom of choice. But now we are suggesting a better alternative.”

Rather than wait for the bill to become law, why not ink a joint venture agreement?

During consultative meetings, Briones had sought the opinions of his people and those of other barangays before relaying to the media their two cents’ worth.

Here’s how he put it, as translated from Ilonggo:

“Most member-consumers of the cooperative would shift to MORE Power for want of better services. Imagine what would happen if we opt to compete and later give up when the power lines of the competitor would have emerged? It would be too late to propose a joint venture.”

Incidentally, business mogul Enrique K. Razon, the richest Filipino, is the main investor behind MORE Power.

His net worth is USD 16.5 billion, according to the Forbes World’s Billionaires List.

Hence, it would be foolish to support a looming competition between the two distribution utilities, since ILECO 1 might not be resilient enough to survive.

As of now, ILECO 1 is already feeling the pain of losing some of its member-consumers to Iloilo City’s distribution utility in the peripheral towns of Pavia and Sta. Barbara, where MORE Power’s posts have already sprung up.

The malls and other big business establishments there have already shifted to MORE Power.

Of the 15 towns still being energized by ILECO 1, eight are located within the 2nd District.

Aside from Pavia and Sta. Barbara, they are Alimodian, Cabatuan, Leganes, Leon, Maasin, and San Miguel.

So, rather than compete, why not go for a joint venture agreement (JVA) that would place both the cooperative and the private company in a win-win position?

BNB-101 regional director Raul Cordova expressed optimism about the suggested partnership, based on the outcome of a joint venture agreement between MORE Power and the defunct Central Negros Electric Cooperative (CENECO) in 2024.

That year, CENECO was hemorrhaging hundreds of millions of pesos in bank debts.

“If the joint venture with CENECO worked, why not with ILECO?” Cordova asked.

His late brother, Roy Cordova, was then president of the CENECO board of directors.

Roy lived long enough to see the birth of Negros Electric and Power Corp., also known as NEPC or Negros Power, replacing CENECO.

Negros Power has expanded from 177,737 customers in August 2024 to almost 300,000 today.

“The CENECO employees who chose to retire,” Cordova’s brother had told him, “were well compensated. Most of them were retained by Negros Power.”

Therefore, a joint venture agreement would save ILECO 1 from worrying about survival.

It would also save MORE Power the huge amount and the time it would take to install new power lines.

May we hear from MORE Power President and CEO Roel Z. Castro and the ILECO 1 management?