Panay Electric Company (PECO) has debunked the claim of MORE Electric and Power Corporation (MORE Power) that its distribution facilities and equipment are “dilapidated.”
The city has been experiencing “long and grueling” brownouts, which according to MORE Power are caused by “the sorry state of the distribution system.”
PECO administrative manager Marcelo Cacho, during a virtual presser, dismissed as “false” the allegation of MORE Power.
He said the incidents of power outages in the city are due to MORE Power’s “incompetence.”
“We were not experiencing this kind of outages before.The people of Iloilo don’t deserve this. This is highly irregular, highly unnormal,” he lamented.
“Iloilo is slowly turning to be the brownout capital of the Philippines due entirely to the management of the current distributor—MORE Power,” PECO’s top official added.
Cacho particulary cited the two separate 13-hour brownouts that occurred in Jaro district and City Proper last month.
“These long brownouts came at a time when the summer heat and the lockdown have been keeping Ilonggos uneasy,” he said.
In a statement, MORE Power president Roel Castro said the scheduled power service interruptions are needed to give way to corrective and maintenance works.
“We have to undertake the maintenance works and implement brownouts because if we don’t do this now, the facilities will explode, and we will suffer from longer brownouts,” he explained.
Cacho said the hours-long brownouts could have been avoided if MORE Power is technically competent in operating a power distribution system.
According to lawyer Estrella C. Elamparo, PECO’s legal counsel, MORE Power, under Republic 11212, is not mandated to expropriate the distribution assets of PECO.
“Pwede silang maginstall ng bago, magtayo ng bagong facilities, but they did not do so. Instead, ipinagpilitan nila na kamkamin ang facilities ng PECO,” she said.
“Bakit mo kakamkamin kung bulok na? Ibig sabihin walang mali sa facilities ng PECO. Ito ay ginagawa lamang, obviously, na excuse ng MORE Power dahil hindi nila kayang patakbuhin and distribution system sa Iloilo City,” she further said.
MORE power started to take over PECO’s assets in February this year.
This after Judge Emerald Requina-Contreras of the Iloilo City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 23 issued a writ of possession in favor of the power firm owned by port tycoon Enrique Razon.
To “ensure the uninterrupted supply of electricity,” Contreras set guidelines for “a smooth and peaceful transition of operation.”
But Elamparo said MORE Power “disregarded” the guidelines contained in the addendum to the writ of possesion.
“Masyadong nagmadali ang MORE Power. They completely took over the facilities of PECO, wala ng transition period,” she said..IMT
Photo from MORE Power’s Facebook page
