MORE POWER IN MORE TOWNS: Power firm’s expansion clears House, heads to Senate

By Francis Allan L. Angelo

The House of Representatives has approved on third and final reading a bill expanding the franchise area of MORE Electric and Power Corporation to include the municipalities of Iloilo’s 1st District.

House Bill 7647, authored by Representative Janette Garin, garnered overwhelming support during the plenary vote last Tuesday, with 247 lawmakers voting in favor, four opposing, and no abstentions.

The bill now proceeds to the Senate of the Philippines for consideration, where it is expected to undergo its own series of committee hearings.

The approval came after Jeffrey Ferrer, chair of the House Committee on Legislative Franchises, presented the panel’s favorable recommendation to the plenary.

If enacted, the bill would allow MORE Power to expand its distribution services to the municipalities of Igbaras, Tubungan, Oton, Tigbauan, Guimbal, Miag-ao, and San Joaquin. These municipalities are presently served by Iloilo I Electric Cooperative, Inc. (ILECO 1).

House Bill 7647 proposes amendments to Sections 11, 16, and 21 of Republic Act No. 11212, as previously amended by Republic Act No. 11918.

The original law granted MORE Power a franchise to establish, operate, and maintain an electric power distribution system in Iloilo City and districts two and four, ensuring the continuous and reliable delivery of electricity to consumers within its service area.

Garin emphasized that the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines clearly states that franchises for public utilities should not be exclusive, and the Supreme Court has affirmed this.

She also pointed out that the local government units in the district have already passed resolutions urging Congress to expand MORE Power’s franchise coverage so their constituents can benefit from what they described as faster, more reliable, and responsive electricity services.

“The respective towns in the First District of Iloilo Province have passed resolutions requesting assistance in passing a measure that would allow them to be covered by MORE Power’s franchise area,” Garin said.

“This would enable their residents to benefit from the fast, reliable, and modern electric power distribution services that MORE Power has been known to deliver.”

Supporters see the proposed expansion as a potential step toward accelerating economic growth not only in Iloilo City but also in neighboring municipalities across the province.

MORE Power assumed power distribution operations in Iloilo City in 2020 after taking over from the previous franchise holder. Since the transition, the company has undertaken extensive network rehabilitation and modernization, including replacement of aging distribution lines and upgrading of substations.

The Iloilo City-based Institute of Contemporary Economics, in a position paper submitted to the Senate Committee on Public Services on March 6, 2026, cited improvements including a reduction in distribution system losses from approximately 30 percent or more to approximately 6 to 7 percent, along with a multi-billion peso rehabilitation and modernization program enabled by access to private financing.

Outage response and system reliability also improved, moving from frequent outages and slower restoration times to improved outage management and faster restoration capability.

ICE’s position paper attributed these gains to the distribution utility’s ability to mobilize substantial capital investment through access to private financing, enabling the rapid implementation of infrastructure improvements that might otherwise have taken significantly longer under more constrained institutional arrangements.

The transition of electricity distribution in Iloilo City in 2020 involved the replacement of a long-standing electric cooperative distribution model with a privately managed distribution utility operating under a congressional franchise. The position paper described it as one of the most significant institutional reforms in urban electricity distribution in the Philippines in recent years.

ICE noted that while electric cooperatives were originally established to bring electricity to rural areas and have contributed significantly to expanding electricity access throughout the country, they often face structural constraints in mobilizing capital for large-scale infrastructure modernization and network rehabilitation.

Private distribution utilities, by contrast, can access private capital markets, corporate financing structures, and professionalized management systems.