By Limuel S. Celebria
In the July 21 issue of The Manila Standard, Dean Tony La Viña, writing under the column “Eagle Eyes” claimed there is a “Big Energy Fight in Iloilo.” Follow this link: https://manilastandard.net/mobile/article/329140?fbclid=IwAR2mMFcEjl-u8f1bUjtzpMNZFc7jEQmGLs01r8pHeO6KtNoeSxQxKaQnCVM#.XxguTLPKM3U.facebook
This got me curious. What’s the fuss about any energy fight in Iloilo? It turned out he was referring to the takeover by More Electricity and Power Corp. of the distribution franchise previously held by Panay Electric Company. What fight? The fight long ended when Congress granted the franchise to MORE under Republic Act 11212.
Fight? There’s no fight. What PECO is doing is creating smoke and kicking up a lot of dust. And La Viña’s column, which is full of glaring misinformation, is part of this. Take this column’s opening paragraph for example:
“With the passage of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) carrying with it the mandate that Electric Distribution Utilities can no longer produce power but only buy from power suppliers, PECO sold its stake in the Panay Power Corporation (PPC) and shut down its diesel-generating units to primarily focus on sourcing of power and distributing it to the consumers of Iloilo City.”
Wrong. The EPIRA law was passed in June 2001. But PECO had not been a power producer since the 1970s. From its birth until the 1960s, PECO was both a power generator and distributor. But soon after Pres. Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law, he nationalized the power industry. Marcos sought to electrify the entire country, giving birth to the rural electrification program. In the process, the power industry was vertically integrated under the National Power Corporation which took under its wing utilities engaged in the production, transmission and distribution of electric power.
PECO which, at that time, has just bought a spanking new power generator, was reduced to distribution services and its scope limited to just within Iloilo City. That generator was never fully utilized and, lately, was occasionally used to fire up the power plants of Panay Power whenever a major outage occurs. This also explains why a “generation charge” can be found in Peco’s bill.
PECO was lucky enough it did not end up a cooperative the way Bacolod City’s Diaz Electric Service (owned by the family of Celia Diaz, wife of former Vice President Salvador Laurel) and several power service companies in Negros ended – they were acquired by Central Negros Electric Cooperative, Inc. (CENECO).
I distinctly remember a consumer’s watch movement in the 1980s agitating for the conversion of PECO into an electric cooperative. Then, as now, a lot of issues have been raised against PECO ranging from the high cost of electricity, poor maintenance of facilities resulting in frequent blackouts, and despicable customer relations.
Let’s look at another paragraph: “In January 18, 2019, PECO’s franchise expired. In the interim, to avoid power interruption, the Energy Regulatory Commission granted a provisional Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) allowing PECO to continue distributing power in Iloilo City.”
PECO’s franchise expired but received an extension of its Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity in order to effect a smooth transition of the power distribution service from PECO to MORE. Instead of facilitating that transition, PECO threw all sorts of legal obstacles in MORE’s way. Having lost its franchise and its CPCN, PECO also lost its business permit from the Iloilo City Government because, after all, it is no longer in the business of distributing power.
Here’s a revealing part of the column: “THE PROBLEM STARTED (all caps mine) when, on February 14, 2019, President Duterte signed into law Republic Act 11212 granting More Power Electric Corp.”
The statement seems to put a blame on President Duterte for whatever mess ensued. But the President’s signature on the franchise bill is largely ministerial. The power to grant franchises rests solely on the House of Representatives with the Senate only in concurrence. For whatever reason, PECO has apparently aligned itself with forces seeking the ouster of Pres. Rodrigo Duterte. It’s legal representation in the cases it has filed against MORE, the Divina Law Office, is identified with the opposition. La Viña, a Duterte critic from the beginning of his administration, is one of the major La Viña managers of Senator Grace Poe in her failed bid for the presidency.
La Viña further wrote: “Irate Iloilo residents are venting their anger on social media over the almost daily prolonged power interruptions; the city council lamenting the effects of these brownouts on the economy, which is already reeling under the weight of the extended community quarantines.
The exaggeration is obvious. Of course, people will complain whenever there’s a power outage. But it’s not as if there’s rioting in the streets. In fact, there’s now a growing “fan-following” (if we dare use that word) thanking MORE for its quick response to complaints. This has never happened with PECO. As for “the city council lamenting,” there’s actually no such thing. In a fact-finding hearing called by the City Council, MORE was able to explain the need for scheduled preventive maintenance activities on some PECO-neglected major power stations and the cause of some unscheduled outages attributed to some unexplained phenomena, most likely sabotage. Peco, which was not invited to the hearing, was allowed the opportunity to present its observations. It used the time to whine against MORE.
And that is what PECO is doing until now, whine. Poor thing.
