By:
Daxim L. Lucas - 03:56 PM November 14, 2018
Controversy
continued to hound the embattled electricity distribution firm of Iloilo with
the dispute for control of the lucrative franchise threatening to leave the
city’s residents literally in the dark.
In a
press statement, the camp of tycoon Enrique Razon Jr. accused the owners of the
Panay Electric Co. (PECO) of blackmailing its customers by threatening to
disrupt operations once the firm’s current legislative franchise expires in
January 2019.
Razon
owns MORE Power and Electric Co., which is eyeing the takeover of the Iloilo
City electricity franchise that has been held by PECO’s Cacho family for almost
a century. MORE officials accused PECO of neglecting its clients by failing to
invest in new technology that has resulted in poor service for the booming city
on Panay Island.
This has
been denied, however, by the Cacho family who contend that PECO is one of the
best run electricity distribution utilities in the country, and issues raised
against it – like past incidents of “over billing” clients by 1,000 percent –
have been resolved.
“We at
PECO reiterate our commitment to the people of Iloilo City who have been
with us for almost one century that we will not shut down any of our
facilities (not unless legally stopped) contrary to malicious reports of
parties who have been interested in giving the citizens fake news about our
services,” company president and CEO Luis Miguel Cacho said.
“We strongly believe in fair play and will not
let the people of Iloilo City be victims of greedy individuals and corporations
who have resorted to squid tactics to derail our application for a franchise
renewal,” he added.
The latest controversy arose after PECO lawyer Inocencio Ferrer was quoted in local media saying the Cacho family would never sell the company’s assets to Razon’s MORE even if the Cachos fail to secure a new franchise from Congress.
The
lawyer’s statement runs contrary to the statement of the Cacho family that
there would be no power shutdown while in transition to the new franchise
holder, said MORE, which noted that it has so far received P2 billion in fresh capital
from its owner in preparation for running the Iloilo electricity
franchise.
The
House of Representatives has awarded MORE Power a legislative franchise to
operate a distribution utility for Iloilo City.
For its
part, the Department of Energy (DOE) represented by Antonio Barcelona said it
would “suggest that automatic divestment of assets is provided in the
franchise” to allow for a seamless transition between the feuding firm’s.
Both the
DOE and Energy Regulatory Commission assured there will be a smooth transition,
with Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi saying the DOE is studying its possible
moves to prevent a citywide blackout when PECO’s franchise expires.
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