Councilor slams PECO for using ‘rehashed sentiment’ to attack rival

By Francis Allan L. Angelo

 

Protesting what he calls a desperate move to murk the issue involving the takeover of MORE Power from Panay Electric Co. (PECO) as the sole distribution utility in Iloilo City, City Councilor Alan Zaldivar called on PECO to stop using “rehashed sentiments” to discredit the new power distributor.

Zaldivar made the statement following reports depicting him to be attacking MORE Power for the latter’s alleged poor services.

Various national tabloids and online platforms quoted Zaldivar as saying, “Our clear message to MORE is that, you are not ready to give quality service to Iloilo City.”

“That particular news item is misleading. Well, I could have issued comments before against MORE but that was the time that myself and the other members of the City Council were still facing a blank wall regarding the operations of MORE Power and we didn’t know yet during that time about the corrective measures and efforts it has been undertaking to upgrade the power distribution in the city,” he said.

“They are echoing information that was already done. Panis na yon (it is already spoiled). They are making things worse and that’s unacceptable,” Zaldivar said.

 

‘MISLEADING BASIS’ 

Zaldivar clarified that what seemed to be PECO-instigated news articles depicting him to be attacking MORE Power was done with malicious intent as it was based on a misleading basis.

He said that prior to the fact-finding investigation by the Sanggunian Panlungsod’s committee on public utilities, there was an issue about the scheduled 13-hour power interruption.

Zaldivar was referring to the 13-hour power interruption that was supposed to happen on June 28, 2020, a Sunday, as part of the supposed corrective and preventive maintenance of Mandurriao substation to be conducted by MORE Power.

But because of the unscheduled outage that happened in the evening of June 20, MORE Power decided to re-assess the condition of the feeders and reschedule the maintenance to a later date.

During the fact-finding investigation, MORE Power president Roel Castro described the 13-hour maintenance as “a much-needed requirement to ensure the functionality of the facilities they took over from PECO, which have been operating beyond safe levels and therefore violates the provision of the Energy Regulatory Commission.”

MORE Power, Castro said, is conducting the preventive maintenance like the 13-hour maintenance because “it is a must as provided for by the Philippine Distribution Code to reverse the impacts of unmaintained facilities such as fast deterioration of transformers and all other operating equipment, the high risk of equipment breaking down, overloading and explosions leading to interruptions.”

MORE Power said it also replaced rotting electric poles and cross-arms in distribution and feeder lines.

“The repair and maintenance that we have been implementing are necessary to extend the life of the substations and prevent breakdowns which could lead to massive and prolonged brownouts,” Castro emphasized.

Castro explained that the maintenance is the benchmark on the conditions of the facilities which will become the basis for future preventive maintenance services that are aimed to prevent bigger problems and long power outages.

Zaldivar said he was enlightened with MORE Power’s explanation during the investigation.

“Of course, after MORE Power explained to us the rationale behind the maintenance works, we all understood and find it justifiable,” Zaldivar said.

“Well, a lot of people are hoping that the maintenance services would not extend up to 13 hours because, for us, that is quite long. That was our sentiments before that we share with our fellow consumers but after knowing the rationale behind it we believe that this kind of maintenance is urgently needed. For us at the Council, we think it’s acceptable. Besides, what we all wanted is a reliable power supply to take place. If that is what we need then so be it,” he added.

The neophyte councilor said he will help inform the public about MORE Power’s activities.

“In fact, we will help MORE Power in informing and in educating our consumers. This has to be known by everyone. Our constituents need to know and they need to understand,” he added.

 

READY TO HEAD-ON 

Relatedly, Zaldivar also deplored what he called the apparent twisting of the facts by some media entities in reporting the issue involving MORE Power and PECO.

He even cited the report of one regional daily on its online platform which he said was clearly written out of context.

“My chief of staff called that particular paper and issued the necessary correction and from then on that particular news item has been deleted. Kun may ara kami mabasahan that would malign our standing on issues lain na ina nga istorya. Ma-head-on kami. (If we see news articles that would malign our standing on the prevailing issues, well, that is another story. We are willing to fight head-on,” he said.

“National tabloids even bannered stories indicating that I castigated Mr. Castro, which is a total lie. I have not, in any way, castigated or imputed anything bad against the president of MORE. In fact, we were so thankful at the City Council for MORE’s presence in the Fact-Finding investigation because MORE cleared all the air of doubts regarding the prevailing power situation in the city of Iloilo. And we really appreciate that kind gesture, a gesture that the former composition of the City Council never had during the time of PECO.”

“This is not acceptable. Had these news articles were machinated by PECO, it is definitely a desperate move. Mr. Castro was right when he told PECO during the fact-finding investigation that it already lost its chance,” Zaldivar pointed out, referring to the new articles citing him to have lambasted MORE Power.

During the investigation, PECO appealed to the committee to raise a question at MORE Power President Roel Castro.

After a 10-minute statement by Mikel Afzelius, PECO’s corporate communications and affairs officer, Mr. Castro made a flat-out reply: “You have no franchise. You have no CPCN. You have no mayor’s permit. You have been given the chance, but you lost it.”

 

‘SNUBBED’

PECO, in various instance, was invited by the Iloilo City Council for an investigation but was snubbed by the former twice, explaining that the Council has no jurisdiction over PECO and is answerable only to the Energy Regulatory Commission and to the House of Representatives.

This prompted the City Council to join various groups in opposing the franchise application of PECO.

PECO has been operating the distribution system in Iloilo City for more than 90 years, but its franchise expired last year and its application for a new franchise was denied by Congress.

Under the EPIRA, only a company with a franchise can operate a distribution utility. MORE Power got the franchise after President Duterte signed into law Republic Act 11212 granting it to operate the distribution system in Iloilo City.

The same law also authorizes MORE Power to expropriate the distribution assets of PECO to ensure continuous and uninterrupted supply of electricity in the city.