By Ellson Quismorio A Minority congressman has rued the supposed lack of public consultation in connection with the House of Representatives' granting of a legislative franchise to a new power distributor in Iloilo City. According to COOP-NATCCO Party-List Rep. Anthony Bravo, the House appears to have extended undue advantage to mining firm More Minerals Corporation (MMC), which is poised to take over electricity distribution chores from Panay Electric Company (PECO). COOP-NATCCO Party-List Rep. Anthony Bravo
(Facebook / MANILA BULLETIN) Bravo claimed that stakeholders and end users have not been duly appraised of what awaits them once "noob" power entity MMC succeeds in replacing PECO, which has served Iloilo City for the past 95 years. “The people of Iloilo City must be made aware of their energy situation. It is unclear if all the stakeholders have been really consulted. Will the people of Iloilo also simply accept a new competitor?” asked Bravo, who belongs to the Danilo Suarez-led House Minority Bloc. With only four negative votes, the House voted overwhelmingly in favor of MMC's application last October 8. However, the Senate must first concur with the Lower Chamber's approval before the legislative franchise can fully take effect. It should be noted that PECO's existing franchise will expire in January 2019. Senators Sherwin Gatchalian and Chiz Escudero expressed concerns regarding the legislative franchise request of MMC during the recent hearing of the Senate Public Services Committee. The two senators pointed out that the company allegedly had no assets or distribution lines in Iloilo City, noting that it purportedly plans to takeover the assets of current franchisee PECO through expropriation. MMC has recently changed its name to More Energy and Power Corporation, it should be noted. Capability questioned Meanwhile, Aasenso Party-List Rep. Teodoro Montoro questioned the capability of MMC to transition into Iloilo’s power distributor, considering that MMC is a “mining company that does not have the experience in electricity distribution.” “To me, if the current franchise holders have shortcomings, then there should be an option to correct it. We just need to ask them whether they still want to keep the franchise or not,” he said, expressing fears of unreasonable power rate increases in the Panay region. “It might cause power interruptions in Iloilo and Congress might take the blame for that," warned Montoro. In a related development, PECO corporate affairs manager Mikel Afzelius said the newspapers that published defamatory stories regarding the company's alleged over-billing of its customers should "rectify” such “in the spirit of credible, reliable, and responsible journalism.” This, after the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) denied reports that it ordered the current local power distributor in Iloilo City to refund its customers of P631 million in alleged over-billings. “The information did not come from the ERC, and that Panay Electric Company was not castigated on the aforecited matter,” ERC chairperson Agnes Devanadera said in an official statement. Afzelius said this clarification in effect affirms PECO’s official stand that it was not sanctioned for any irregularity, and that it had been fully compliant with all legal orders from ERC. He further pointed out that the reports in question "were suspiciously published and disseminated during the height of the Congressional committee deliberations."