Aboitiz: No hard feelings over veto
We received information that Malacañang vetoed House Bill 10554, expanding the franchise area of AboitizPower subsidiary Davao Light to Davao del Norte
Aboitiz Power Corp. pledged to continue working with the government despite the decision of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos to deny the franchise renewal application of its subsidiary, Davao Light and Power Company.
“We received information that Malacañang vetoed House Bill 10554, expanding the franchise area of AboitizPower subsidiary Davao Light to Davao del Norte,” Aboitiz Power said.
“Rest assured that we will cooperate with relevant authorities and respond to their directions,” it added.
Press Secretary Atty. Trixie Cruz-Angeles disclosed on Thursday that the president vetoed the bill proposing to expand the franchise of the Davao Light “due to, among others, its susceptibility to infringe on the franchise coverage area of the North Davao Electric Cooperative.”
Among top utility firms
Incorporated in 1929 and acquired by the Aboitiz Group in 1946, Davao Light is the third largest privately-owned electric distribution utility in the country in terms of customer size and annual kWh sales.
Rest assured that we will cooperate with relevant authorities and respond to their direction.
Davao Light’s franchise area covers Davao City, areas of Panabo City and the municipalities of Carmen, Dujali, and Santo Tomas in Davao del Norte, with a population of approximately 1.8 million and a total area of 3,561 square kilometers. It served a total of 458,498 customers with a peak demand of 459 megawatts in 2021.
Last year, a clamor came up for the power distributor to expand its services in the Davao region after some local government units reportedly planned to leave their current power distributor Northern Davao Electric Cooperative due to alleged corruption.