Lawmakers file bill to expand MORE Power coverage

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

A bill was filed in the House of Representatives seeking to expand the franchise coverage of MORE Electric and Power Corporation (MORE Power), Iloilo City’s power distributor, to several towns in Iloilo province.

Representatives Julienne Baronda (Iloilo City-Lone), Michael Gorriceta (Iloilo-2nd), and Braeden John Biron (Iloilo-4th) filed House Bill No. 10258 on Tuesday, September 21, 2021.

HB 10258 seeks to amend Republic Act No. 11212, which granted MORE Power a 25-year legislative franchise to distribute electricity in the city.

If approved, MORE Power’s coverage will be expanded to towns in the 2nd and 4th districts of Iloilo province.

The 2nd district is composed of the towns of Alimodian, Leganes, Leon, New Lucena, Pavia, San Miguel, Santa Barbara, and Zarraga.

The 4th district includes the towns of Anilao, Banate, Barotac Nuevo, Dingle, Dueñas, Dumangas, and San Enrique, and the City of Passi.

In an interview with RMN Iloilo, Gorriceta confirmed that he and Biron intended to file separate bills to amend RA 11212, but they ultimately filed one bill “for the benefit of the consumers in our districts”.

Biron was named as principal author of HB 10258 based on the House’s official website.

Gorriceta said they filed the bill as early as now as it would take some time to deliberate on the measure since Congress is set to go on recess due to the filing of candidacies for the 2022 elections.

The House’s calendar indicates that its session will adjourn on Oct. 1 and will resume on Nov. 8.

Gorriceta also said that his constituents have been approaching him on the matter, citing their concerns over intermittent power provided by the district’s current distributor, Iloilo Electric Cooperative (ILECO) I.

The public clamor he received was on top of the resolutions approved by the town councils of Pavia, Leganes, and Zarraga.

New Lucena and Santa Barbara have also expressed interest to switch to a new power provider.

“We will have a long break in Congress, maybe more than one month since it is the filing period [for the 2022 elections] and everyone will be busy. This will still go through Bills and Index [Service], so in the two-month delay, that is already a big thing,” Gorriceta said.

Gorriceta also said that deliberations on the bill would be an opportunity for the ILECO I to address concerns and for MORE Power to state its position on the bill.

“In fairness to ILECO, this is the proper forum for them to air their side, and same with MORE Power. Whatever the outcome is, what is important is that we are doing our job,” he said.

As to the support from local governments, he said that Alimodian, Leon, and San Miguel have not expressed their interest to be included in MORE Power’s service area but were still included in the bill “for fairness”.

“It would be difficult for us to just keep adding [municipalities] one by one. We still have the option to do it one by one if the bill were to be deliberated,” he said.

Should the bill expire by the end of the 18th Congress, Gorriceta says they will re-file it in the 19th Congress when it opens in July 2022.