Lawmakers warn of spike in Iloilo City power rates

MANILA, Philippines — Two lawmakers have warned of a looming increase in electricity rates in Iloilo City once a mining firm takes over operations from the local power distributor.

Reps. Anthony Bravo and Teodoro Montoro of party-list groups Coop-Natcco and Aasenso, respectively, underscored the absence of any consultation with the local consumers before the hasty approval of the application of the Razon-led More Minerals Corp. last Oct. 8. 

“The people of Iloilo City must be made aware of their energy situation,” Bravo said.

Montoro, for his part, expressed his concern for the future transition to MMC as Iloilo’s electricity distributor as it may now take over that of Panay Electric Co. which provided power to the city for the past 95 years. 

“During the transitory period, who will take charge? It might cause power interruptions in Iloilo and Congress might take the blame for that,” he said, noting that MMC is a “mining company that does not have the experience in electricity distribution.” 

“To me, if the current franchise holders had 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 added.

The House of Representtives overwhelminglu approved the application of MMC, which will now be sent to the Senate for its concurring approval.

This was despite the fact that PECO filed its application for renewal of legislative franchise in July 2017 through Camiguin Rep. Xavier Jesus Romualdo who filed House Bill 6023, since PECO’s legislative franchise is due to expire on January 2019.