MORE Power exec sheds more light

By Herbert Vego

TWO days ago, this corner briefly reported on the phenomenal record of MORE Electric and Power Corp. (MORE Power) in empowering 20,000 additional customers in a span of a year and a half based on our interview with Ms. Ma. Cecilia “Maricel” Pe, the company’s Customer Care Department head. Let us hear more from her.

“When we started operating,” she said, looking back to February 2020, “we took over the previous distribution utility with 63,000 household customers. Today, we have exceeded 83,000 and counting.”

Does that number include some of the erstwhile power thieves? There were an estimated 30,000 of them pilfering electricity with the use of various gadgets known as “jumpers.”

Yes,” Pe answered. “We encouraged them to get legally connected to avoid the risk of getting caught and facing criminal charges in court.”

The company employs unidentified security personnel who motor around the barangays 24/7 with video cameras. Woe unto those who are caught in the act of installing jumpers.

Almost a thousand pilferers have already been caught and charged with violation of Republic Act No. 7832, punishable by up to 12 years imprisonment or a fine ranging from P10,000 to P20,000 or both, at the discretion of the court.

For humanitarian reasons, however, the majority of them were allowed to pay the stolen electricity plus penalty.

“We have this MORE Konek program,” Pe revealed, “that reaches out to the unenergized in coordination with the city government. We encourage them to legalize for their own safety. Power pilferage could cause fire.”

Under the program, the applicants are required to present the accomplished application form, government-issued identification card, barangay certificate of residency, permit for temporary service connection with electrical plan and vicinity, and oath undertaking for informal settlers.

The poor are allowed to pay the initial fees by installment.

The lady executive cited the leadership of her immediate superior, Roel Z. Castro — the company president and chief operating officer – for having done everything favorable to the less fortunate.

“He suspended disconnection of overdue accounts,” she said, “from May to September while Iloilo City was under MECQ [modified enhanced community] to give customers additional time to settle their bills.”

Other activities such as meter reading and bill delivery were not hampered, thus encouraging the well-to-do to pay their bills promptly.

How did they cope with lack of income arising from non-disconnection?

“Fortunately,” she explained, “we have a supportive board of directors who kept the company standing. Otherwise, how could we have paid our suppliers.”

Now that disconnections have resumed following the downgrading of Iloilo City into the less restrictive GCQ (general community quarantine), how many customers have incurred arrears?

“We stand to deal with 30,000 delinquent customers,” she disclosed. “We have sent them disconnection notices, to be implemented only if they fail to pay within 48 hours. Our customer-care office at Hotel del Rio now receives an average of a thousand people a day. I wish they would not wait for the last minute to avoid the discomfort of disconnection.”

Our conversation shifted to the possibility of MORE Power expanding to neighboring towns like Leganes, Sta. Barbara and Pavia, among others currently served by Iloilo Electric Coopative (ILECO), as prayed for in a bill filed by congressmen Mike Gorriceta (2nd Dist. Iloilo) and BJ Biron (2nd Dist.) in response to public demand.

“We have a program aimed in place in the event such expansion materializes,” Miss Pe stressed, bringing to mind the modernization program budgeted at P1.9 billion within three to five years.

Incidentally, MORE President Castro had earlier clarified he had no hand in pushing for the expansion bill.  The public demand naturally arose out of their awareness that MORE Power charges the lowest household rate at P6.38 per kilowatt-hour.

ILECOs 1, 2 and 3 have no quarrel with that.