Amid the scare and the real danger brought by COVID-19 around the world and in Iloilo City, a creeping nightmare is slowly crawling its way to establish a new reality with a stern yet arrogant set of practices and culture.

MORE Power, the franchisee of the power distribution in Iloilo City by virtue of the legislated franchise granted by Congress and operating through the judicial decision to expropriate the power substations and switchboard of the beleaguered Panay Electric Company (PECO), suspiciously served a same day notice and disconnected the electricity supply to the corporate office of PECO declaring that they are the legitimate distribution utility (DU) of Iloilo City thus PECO no longer has the right to connect to the feeder line.

MORE Power then released a news story that the Cacho family, the owner of PECO, is not paying their electricity consumption since they do not have meters in their houses implying that the consumers are the ones paying for their bills through the systems loss, an unbundled item printed on the electricity bills.

It went further by writing Jose Ma. A. Cacho on March 21, 2020 intimidating that they have no electric meters and their electricity lines are connected directly to the service lines thus in violation of the Anti-electricity and Electric Transmission Lines/Materials Pilferage Act of 1994 (RA 7832). Signed by Neil Parcon, MORE Power’s Corporate Planning and Regulatory head, it accused the Cachos of “Illegal Use of Electricity”. Parcon is a Punong Barangay in Iloilo City, a contractor doing public works and a former officer of PECO. It would explain his confidence in accusing the Cachos. 

nfortunately, Parcon’s own familiarity with the Cachos failed him. When the disconnection team arrived at the residences of the owners of PECO, they were surprised to see all four houses connected to individual electricity meters more modern than the one MORE Power has started installing. 

Roel Castro, the president of MORE Power, was forced to issue a radio statement denying their intentions to cut the electricity supplies at the houses of the Cachos. The radio interview either made Castro look stupid or made Parcon a liar given the letter or disconnection notice they delivered to the Cachos.

All these acts happened after Iloilo RTC Branch 23 Judge Emerald Requina-Contreras issued an Addendum to the Writ of Possession that returned the operations of the switchboard and the power substations to PECO and made MORE Power just an observer.

A check with the website of the Independent Electricity Market Operators of the Philippines (IEMOP) would show that it is PECO that is nominating for the power supply of the city even up to this press time. It means that it is the one paying for the electricity being provided by MORE Power to the people of Iloilo City which is close to P400 million a month. 

MORE Power is not an entity at the electricity market thus making their claim as Iloilo City’s DU just a mere claim given the franchise that they have and the court order that they got.

MORE Power does not even have an approve power rate from the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).

The disconnection and the disrupted attempt of disconnections happened when all public utilities issued month-long reprieves to bills due as people are ordered to stay home in order to prevent the COVID-19 virus from spreading and the world is busy fighting the deadly virus. 

In short, MORE Power simply took advantage of the crisis and silently attempted to cripple what it perceived to be an enemy.

While MORE Power promised a better and more professional brand of service to the Ilonggos, their actions speak otherwise.

If by chance, PECO will fail in its bid at the Supreme Court questioning the constitutionality of the MORE Power franchise, the recent acts of MORE only reveal a creeping nightmare slowly moving into the Ilonggo households.