By Don Mogarte
In a forum in Davao, Senator Imee Marcos sounded off against NORDECO’s threats, highlighting that a franchise is a privilege that is given at Congress’s discretion.
Access to clean, affordable, and accessible electricity remains a key issue hindering inclusive economic development in the Philippines.
Without reliable electricity, Filipino families are being deprived of a basic human right required to live a sustainable life.
Recently, Congress has been having a lot of inquiries and investigations on electric cooperatives and even private distribution utilities focusing on their power rates and their quality of service.
The dream of the cornerstone EPIRA Act has not achieved the desired results, and the debate on long-term solutions is still very much present in the public sphere.
Electricity should take center stage again, given what has been happening in areas like Davao, Batangas, Albay, Isabela, Pampanga, Mindoro, Lanao, and other provinces facing either high power rates or limited to no power at all.
At the House of Representatives, there are renewed efforts to pass a bill that would expand the franchise of Davao Light and Power Company to cover the rest of Davao del Norte and Maco in Davao de Oro.
This would come at the expense of Northern Davao Electric Cooperative, which has served these areas for decades.
These efforts come in light of both the House of Representatives and Senate passing a previous bill on this matter with broad support, but President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. vetoed the bill, saying the bill would impair NORDECO’s existing contractual obligations.
Leading proponents of these renewed efforts come from Davao representatives, prominently PBA Representative Margarita Nograles, and Ilocos Rep. Sandro Marcos.
Other local officials, led by Governor Edwin Jubahib, and even his political opponents like Representatives Alan Dujali and Maricar Zamora, have joined these efforts as well by filing their own bills.
The President vetoed the bill over concerns it would impair NORDECO’s existing contractual obligations.
A new Nograles-Marcos bill, which fully addresses the President’s concerns, is now up for deliberation in Congress.
On the other side, NORDECO is resisting these efforts by repeating the President’s reasoning—in that the bill is purportedly unconstitutional because it would impair its Constitutional obligations.
As Congress deliberates whether it would pass the bill once again for the President’s signature, it would be in NORDECO’s best interest to stop deflecting the issue and focus on directly rebutting the argument.
After all, the reality on the ground is that Dabawenyos under NORDECO’s area suffer from consistent brownouts.
The most recent example was the state of emergency declared in Samal Island in May, caused by the failure of two generator sets being operated by NORDECO.
This caused losses in economic opportunities, given the island is a known tourist destination in Mindanao for those who want to visit its pristine beaches.
Even figures at the national level can see these realities.
Senators Sherwin Gatchalian and Grace Poe, members of the Energy Committee, have publicly stated if NORDECO continues to fail at doing its job, then they would highly consider a new player stepping in for the benefit of the public.
Senator Imee Marcos is perhaps the most prominent national figure to speak on this issue.
In a forum in Davao, the presidential sister sounded off against NORDECO’s threats, highlighting that a franchise is a privilege that is given at Congress’s discretion.
On this, Senator Marcos is correct.
A franchise is given to entities that have proven to have sufficient capabilities to uplift the public’s living standards in their operations.
As such, Congress also has the same power to revoke their franchise if it’s in the best interest of the public.
Therefore, renewing or revoking a franchise could take place regardless of an entity’s existing contractual obligations.
Given this, it was unfortunate to see Malacanang taking a different path on this matter compared to Congress.
As public debate on NORDECO’s franchise is set to heat up in the coming months, the public would be best served by transparency instead of deflecting issues.
A big part of that would come from NORDECO admitting its shortcomings and setting into motion its plans to address its deficiencies.
However, with a less-than-stellar track record throughout the years, perhaps a new franchise should be given to another entity with a better track record.
(The author is a member of Kilos Pinoy, an independent advocacy group that provides platforms for groups and individuals to push their campaigns. Founded in 2017 by former journalists and NGO workers, the group has since championed causes on the environment and good governance).