Iloilo to auction off PECO assets

MANILA, Philippines — Iloilo City will auction off the assets of Panay Electric Co.(PECO) to compensate for the firm’s unpaid real estate tax liabilities and other penalties worth over P90 million.

In a statement, Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas said the auction of PECO’s assets will solve the city government’s collection problem with PECO, which started in 2006, despite multiple demand letters issued to the company.

“PECO’s tax liability arose from its refusal to pay the real estate tax assessed by the City Treasurer’s Office (CTO) on the land where its electricity posts stand on,” Treñas said.

He added that these small pieces of land beside the streets of Iloilo City will be the subject of the Dec. 12 auction.

The CTO said it will put a floor price of P106,881,685.33 as the lowest bid when it puts up for bidding PECO’s land where its thousands of wooden electricity posts stand.

CTO Tax Enforcement Division chief John Ladrillo said the total market value of the posts stands at P214.9 million.

Ladrillo said the P106.8-million floor price was computed based on PECO’s total tax liability since 2006 amounting to P97,164,438.81, the cost of the sale including documentary stamp tax estimated at P9,716,443. 88 and a registration fee of P802.64.

Apart from the unpaid taxes, Treñas earlier asked the Office of the President to direct the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to address mounting complaints against PECO, listing down nine incidents of fire that hit PECO’s electricity poles from Oct. 19 to 21 alone, based on the report of Bureau of Fire Protection to City Hall.

PECO earlier sought to renew its franchise – which expired last Jan. 19 – but was not granted by Congress.

At that time, the Department of Energy (DOE) and ERC agreed to allow PECO to continue operating while the resolution of the franchise is still pending to ensure continued power service to electricity consumers in Iloilo City.

Earlier this year, President Duterte signed Republic Act 11212, the law granting Razon-led MORE Electric and Power Corp. a franchise to own and operate a power distribution utility in Iloilo.