ILOILO POWER FIRM’S ASSETS SAVED FROM AUCTION BLOCK
ILOILO CITY—THE Iloilo City government has shelved plans to auction off properties of power distributor Panay Electric Co. (Peco) after the firm paid about P135 million in real property taxes (RPT).
In its regular session on Tuesday, the city council granted authority to Mayor Jerry Treñas to enter into a settlement agreement with Peco after the firm paid on Monday P134,927,522.63 covering its RPT from 2016 to 2019, excluding disputed interests and penalties.
The agreement provides for the dropping or withdrawal
of cases filed by Peco in the Local Board of Assessment Appeals (LBAA) and Regional Trial Court against the city government. The city will exclude Peco’s assets from a scheduled auction on Dec. 12.
Clarification
In a statement, Marcelo Cacho, Peco head of public engagement and government affairs, said that out of the nearly P135 million paid, around P60 million was for the principal amount of the company’s RPT obligations, which is subject of LBAA Case No. 2017-01, while around P75 million was payment for RPT obligations subject of LBAA Case No. 2019-01.
Cacho said Peco filed the first LBAA case in 2017 questioning the RPT assessment issued in 2016 over the breakdown of back-tax assessment covering a 10-year period
“Peco never opposed the paying of new property taxes. We just wanted clarification on why suddenly we get slapped with an unfair 10-year back-tax assessment,” he said.
Treñas, in a separate statement, welcomed the settlement of the tax liability.
Legal dispute
“This is a welcome development for us as their RPT has been pending for the past three years. With this, we can properly fund programs intended for much improved social services and other initiatives that would benefit the Ilonggo community in our quest to bring Iloilo City to the next level,” he said.
Treñas last month said some of Peco’s assets were among the pieces of property included in a Dec. 12 auction for being delinquent in payment of its RPT estimated at P90 million. The taxes cover those levied on Peco’s electric poles put up on city government property.
Cacho said Peco had “always been willing to amicably settle” its tax cases and dispute with the city government.
Peco’s franchise expired on Jan. 18 but the Energy Regulatory Commission granted Peco a provisional certificate of public convenience and necessity to continue distributing power in Iloilo City to prevent any disruption of supply to consumers amid a legal dispute with More Power Electric Corp. (More Power).
More Power, which has been granted a 25-year franchise by Congress, is seeking to expropriate Peco’s distribution assets.