Iloilo City officials called on Panay Electric Co. to wait and respect the final ruling of the Supreme Court on the issue surrounding the city’s electricity distribution system to avoid confusing the consumers.
Rep. Julienne Baronda said PECO was confusing Iloilo residents on who is the real and legitimate distribution utility that manages the city’s electricity distribution system.
PECO was not granted a congressional franchise to operate as the power distributor of Iloilo because of numerous complaints from consumers. Its provisional permit to operate was also not renewed by the Energy Regulatory Commission in the absence of the franchise.
“It is clear that the company does not accept the verdict of Congress regarding its franchise and has even filed several legal cases. The Ilonggo community is unsure as to who is the legal electric utility distributor of the city. It is advised that they wait for the final verdict of the Supreme Court to avoid more confusion,” Baronda said.
Baronda said she was hoping that PECO “will heed the appeal for sobriety and wait for the Supreme Court to decide on the issue it raised on the constitutionality of the law passed by Congress.”
Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas earlier said MORE Electric Power Corp. is the legitimate utility running the city’s power distribution system and the holder of the legal permit to operate from the ERC.
Iloilo City Councilor Alan Zaldivar said the city councilors appreciated MORE Power’s report on what was happening to the city’s electricity distribution system and the preventive maintenance work being done.