Treñas bullish on billionaire’s role

By Herbert Vego

THIS writer has lost track of the number of times that billionaire Enrique K. Razon Jr. visited Iloilo City. Each time he comes, however, there is always good news behind.

No less than Mayor Jerry P. Treñas stressed this last Wednesday when he joined Razon for the inauguration of the new 30/36-MVA substation of MORE Electric and Power Corp. (MORE Power) at the72-hectare Iloilo Business Park (Megaworld) in Mandurriao, Iloilo City.

To the mayor, it boosts the city government’s goal of becoming one of the most livable highly-urbanized cities in the Philippines by 2028.

Megaworld is now home to 25,000 workers in offices and various businesses in Iloilo City.

It is already every Ilonggo’s knowledge that Razon is the principal owner of MORE Power, which distributes power in the entire city, and soon also in the towns of Alimodian, Leganes, New Lucena, Pavia, San Miguel, Santa Barbara, Zarraga, Anilao, Banate, Barotac Nuevo, Dingle, Dueñas, Dumangas and San Enrique, plus Passi City.

In his message, the mayor described the new substation as “a testament to our commitment in supporting the growth and development of the local community, by providing reliable and sustainable power supply. This enables us to improve quality of life, and prompt holistic development. I am very optimistic that there will be more from MORE.”

To which Razon responded, “We are proud to have been part of Iloilo’s journey towards progress and will remain committed to contributing to the region’s economic and social development.”

The growth of MORE Power from a customer base of around 62,000 to 90,000 households since 2020 reflects its passion for public service to the max.

MORE Power’s President Roel Z. Castro said, “This is one of the latest state-of-the-art in the country right now. “

Eh kasi the Megaworld substation is capable of unmanned operation, since it could be controlled remotely from their control center.

Kevin Andrew L. Tan, Megaworld’s chief executive officer, commented, “Having this state-of-the-art power substation in our township is a big plus and a huge confidence boost to our potential investors.”

I recall that sometime in May 2019, the Iloilo Economic Development Foundation (ILED) asked the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) to act swiftly on another Razon-proposed project, which was to upgrade the Iloilo Commercial Port Complex in Loboc, Lapuz. That is not surprising because Razon is the owner of International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI), a global port management company headquartered in Manila.

Oh, well, that’s another Ilonggo dream we hope to come true.

-oOo-

IT’S NOT THE AGE THAT MATTERS

AS far as nations are concerned the difference between the poor and rich nations is not their age.

We know from history that India and Egypt are more than 2000 years old, but most of their people are still poor.

In contrast are Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Only 150 years back, they were insignificant. Today, they are among the highly-developed and rich countries.

Also, the difference between the poor and rich nations does not depend on the available natural resources. Look at Japan with its limited territory — 80% mountainous, unsuitable for agriculture or farming, but is among the world’s richest economies. The country is like an immense floating factory, importing raw materials from the whole world and exporting manufactured products.

Switzerland does not grow cocoa but produces and exports the best chocolates in the world. It is also host to the world’s strongest banks.

What about us? What do we export?

Your guess is correct, but it pains the abandoned housewives and children.