President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. has sent his veto message of House Bill 10554 or An Act Expanding the Franchise Area of Davao Light and Power Company, Inc. (Davao Light).
Marcos, in a letter dated July 27 to the Senate President and members of the Senate, lauded the bill’s intent to improve access to electricity within the captive market of the expanded franchise area.
However, Marcos said he was “constrained to veto the bill due to the susceptibility of the proposed expansion of the franchise area of Davao Light and Power Company, Inc. to legal and constitutional challenge due to the apparent overlap and possible infringement into the subsisting franchise, permits, and contracts previously granted to North Davao Electric Cooperative Inc.”
Marcos said NORDECO has an existing franchise in the expanded area, which will subsist until 2028 and until 2033. “The bill runs counter to Section 27 of Republic Act No. 9136 or the EPIRA mandating that all existing franchises shall be allowed in its full term,” Marcos said.
“Likewise, the resulting repeal of North Davao Electric Cooperative Inc.’s franchise over the expanded franchise area will violate the non-impairment clause as provided in Section 10, Article III of the 1987 Constitution,” the President added.
He said House Bill 10554 “is a prohibited collateral attack on North Davao Electric Cooperative Inc. franchise.”
Aboitiz Power Corp. president Emmanuel Rubio said they received information that Malacanang vetoed HB 10554, which is meant to expand the franchise of Davao Light to Davao del Norte.
During public hearings in the House of Representatives and the Senate, Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives Association (PHILRECA), the association of electric cooperatives operating nationwide, opposed House Bill 10554 for similar reasons.
The group said ECs do not intend to profit or be rewarded for their sacrifices, but to allow them to continue being the government’s partner for electrification.
Sen. Grace Poe meanwhile said she respects the President’s exercise of his veto powers on the expansion of the franchise area of DLPC.
She said it is the people of Davao themselves who clamored for a new power provider as they have been held hostage by power supply agreements entered into with less than due diligence.
“The interest of consumers comes first,” she said.