‘Resolve Iloilo electricity woes’

Agroup of power consumers has escalated its appeal to President Rodrigo Duterte and the Supreme Court for a solution to the long-standing power supply standstill in Iloilo City.

In a statement over the weekend, the Koalisyon Bantay Kuryente (KBK) is hoping this could resolve the strife over the ownership of the power utility that could put an end to frequent power outages and high electricity bills in the city.

“Iloilo is dying and needs the help of President Duterte and the

Supreme Court. The lights are out in Iloilo because of MORE Power (More Electric and Power Corp.). Their long and frequent brownouts are killing our businesses and livelihoods, and they are disrupting our essential medical services,” KBK Chairman Ruperto Supena said.

MORE Power is the new electricity franchisee in Iloilo City.

“There have been a total of 326 hours when Iloilo had been plunged into darkness. We have to let that sink in, 326 hours of suffering of our people. That already doubled the outage duration when compared to PECO within the same timeline last year,” Panay Electric Co. (PECO) corporate communications and external affairs officer Mikel Afzelius said.

Afzelius noted the power outage last June 20 that lasted for more or less 13 hours, a problem that he said could have been taken care of in around one hour at most.

Supena cited the need for Duterte to intervene “to keep a watchful eye on those who would exploit us.”

KBK coordinator Jose Allen Aquino reiterated their plea to Congress to immediately investigate power interruptions in the city and vowed to hasten information gathering and collating all consumer complaints that will then be submitted as evidence and basis for probes that shall be done at the legislative branch.

Aquino called on Congress to review the franchise granted to Razon-led MORE Power, noting the entity’s “technical incompetence” in providing electricity services to Iloilo City consumers.

He further appealed to government agencies, including the Department of Energy and the Energy Regulatory Commission for serious and immediate action on the issue, noting that while the plight of customers of Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) is given paramount attention, the uproar from Iloilo City consumers seems to continue falling on deaf ears.