Congress to probe MORE’s ‘incompetence’

Congress is alarmed over Ilonggo power consumers’ woes due to the frequent brownouts that followed More Electric and Power Corporation’s (MORE) violent takeover of Panay Electric Company’s (PECO) power distribution facilities, and certain solons are now calling for an investigation.

Under House Resolution No. 785 filed by Party List Representative Sonny Lagon, he urged Congress to probe “the status of the distribution of electricity in Iloilo City to ensure that power distribution will not cease and that the people of Iloilo will not be affected.”

In Friday’s (May 22) Virtual Kapihan ng Samahang Plaridel, Lagon noted that the current 13-hour brownouts that Iloilo City is suffering is a result of More Electric and Power Company’s (MORE) lack of proper facilities.

“Ang concern ko lang talaga is yung mga consumers ng Iloilo, na sana hindi sila ma-apektuhan, lalo na ngayong pandemic. Ang problema ko talaga kasi is yung mga long brownouts na nangyayari,” Lagon noted. “Before kasi nung si PECO (Panay Electric Company) nag-operate diyan, hindi naman talaga na-experience ng mga tao ng Iloilo City ang mga ganitong brownouts.

“Kung umasa lang sila kay MORE sa ngayon, since wala pang kumpletong facilities si MORE, talagang hindi maiwasan na magkaroon ng mga brownout sa Iloilo City,” he added.

In the history of the Philippine power sector, it is the first time that the power distribution facilities of a private company have been forcefully taken by another private entity that is only armed with a public utility franchise issued by Congress.

“Dumaan naman sa due process. Pero sabihin na nating hilaw,” stressed Lagon.

The assets being used for electricity distribution in Iloilo City remains under the rightful ownership of Panay Electric Company (PECO), but its franchise expired in January 2019.

By preference, Congress had instead granted a 25-year franchise to MORE Power and Electric Corporation. The subsequent writ of possession and operating license granted to it by authorities warranted the takeover by MORE of the electricity distribution in Iloilo City even without putting up its own facilities, besides its apparent lack of track record and technical expertise in operating a power distribution system, and as noted by industry sources, that should have been a key requirement because power distribution is a business imbued with public interest.

Representative Lagon said, “There is a need for the House of Representatives to look into this to ensure that the supply of electricity in Iloilo City will not be affected and that the people of Iloilo City shall not suffer because of the legal battle between the two distribution utilities.”

The latest incident of power interruptions that tormented Iloilo City consumers was the 13-hour brownouts this month (May 17) due to maintenance works at a substation undertaken by MORE, an activity done on the peak of a summer month and while the country is at the height of battling a pandemic and people are required to stay at home.

Party List Representative Presley De Jesus noted that the nation’s power supply is enough right now due to the decreased commercial use of electricity. When asked about unusually long brownout in Iloilo, he responded with dismay.

“A 13-hour brownout is not acceptable, especially since we are in a crisis ngayon,” he said.

“Some big private investors seem to want to take over the power industry which may adversely affect the small electric cooperatives in the country,” he added. “We the need to protect electric cooperatives from being taken over by private investors branded as ‘electric coop killers’ who are only after profits and not the welfare of cooperative members and the cooperatives’ customers.”

Experts have said that these brownouts could have been averted through the installation of a mobile substation. Incidentally, MORE had promised the congressional franchise committee in late 2018 that they would procure a mobile substation. To date, MORE still has not installed a mobile substation.

The 13-hour on May 17 was done in a substation that mostly services residential power consumers. With the scorching summer heat and the pandemic forcing Ilonggos to stay in their homes, people were forced to suffer during the preventive maintenance.

Before this episode of power outages in the area, there were also reports of electricity service interruptions that tortured and enraged Iloilo City consumers in March and April.

Prompted by that, Representative Lagon sought an immediate investigation in aid of legislation “to ensure that the people of Iloilo City shall not suffer and that electricity shall continue to be distributed to them despite the legal battle between PECO and MORE, and to come out with the necessary legislation for this purpose.”

In a 10-page Urgent Motion for Inhibition filed recently, PECO moved for the inhibition of Iloilo RTC presiding Judge Emerald Requina Contreras, noting several instances in which the presiding judge had shown preferential treatment to MORE, rendering doubt to her independence and impartiality.