Contrasting policies

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. is persistent in his advocacy to reach out to the unbanked sector via the digitalization of banking and financial services and the expansion of the reach of financial institutions.

The House of Representatives has joined this move by approving the Bangko sa Baryo bill which aims to expand financial services to unbanked areas.

But to better served the unbanked sector, the Lower House should better take a look at a provision in the 2018 General Appropriations Act which seems to be achieving the opposite.

The said provision placed rural and thrift banks in the bottom of a list in terms of allowable deductions to public school teachers’ salaries.

And because there is no assurance that teachers will still have funds remaining (the law also mandates a minimum P5,000 take-home pay) after payment to those higher in the hierarchy such as those owed to government institutions, savings and loan associations and mutual benefit associations, provident funds, insurance companies, rural and thrift banks will have no choice but to not lend to teachers anymore.

It will be unfortunate if the government continues to implement policies promoting financial exclusion.

PECO to lose franchise?

Just recently, I wrote about the controversy involving the threatened non-renewal of Panay Electric Co.’s (PECO) legislative franchise to distribute electricity in Iloilo City, which it has been doing for the past 95 years.

Side by side with this is a proposal also in Congress, to grant More Minerals Corp. a franchise to distribute electric power in Iloilo.

According to House Bill 8132 filed by Rep. Gus Tambunting, the quality of PECO’s service has been wanting and customers have been complaining about overbilling, poor customer relations, distributor-related power outages, inadequately maintained lines, among others.

Tambunting said that Iloilo City is one of the most progressive cities in the country and that unless the city’s increasing power demand is fully addressed by a reliable, fair, and efficient power distributor, such gains are in danger of being stymied.

The solon emphasized that MMC, through its parent Monte Oro Resources & Energy Inc. and its listed parent Apex Mining, possess the required capability, financial resources, and experience to give the people of Iloilo City the electric distribution company they deserve.

If the leadership of the House Committee on Legislative Franchises is to be upheld by the members of the House of Representatives, the utility firm Panay Electric Co. (PECO) is going to lose its legislative franchise to More Minerals Corp., because of PECO’s record of inefficient service as the sole distributor of electricity in Iloilo City for almost a century. The House Committee on Legislative Franchises, led