The Senate Committee on Public Services held a hearing on the bill that seeks to grant the Negros Electric Power Corporation (NEPC) a franchise on Tuesday, March 5.
Senator Grace Poe, Committee on Public Services chair, said in her opening statement that the agenda of the hearing was to focus on providing “accessible, affordable, reliable, and sustainable electricity for all, especially in the middle of widespread and frequent brownouts and power interruptions in different parts of the country that make our countrymen suffer”.
House Bill No. 9805 that seeks the NEPC franchise is a measure borne out of public clamor for better power service in Negros Occidental, she said.
The measure seeks to grant a franchise to NEPC, a joint venture between Primelectric and Central Negros Electric Cooperative, to take over the power distribution services of CENECO that covers Bacolod, Silay, Talisay and Bago cities, as well as the municipalities of Murcia and Don Salvador Benedicto.
Roel Z. Castro, president of NEPC, told the committee that they will rehabilitate and modernize the distribution system and provide better power service to Negrenses with the infusion of capital and bring down power rates.
Castro also pointed out that there are more than 250 CENECO employees who have already submitted applications to work for NEPC.
Poe said she has seen the performance of More Power that has brought tremendous development to Iloilo and she hopes it can be replicated in Bacolod.
Wennie Sancho, secretary general of Power Watch, aired his group’s full support for the granting of the NEPC franchise.
OPPOSITION
Those opposing the granting of the franchise questioned the legality and alleged anomalies in the holding of the plebiscite that approved the joint venture agreement between Ceneco and Primelectric.
A union representative also insisted that Ceneco is not an ailing cooperative contrary to claims of the proponents of the JVA and aired his concern for the future of the cooperative’s employees.
DOE INQUIRY
Senator Win Gachalian asked the Department of Energy to conduct an independent inquiry on the plebiscite and the JVA in response of the complaints raised, and for the National Electrification Administration to answer allegations on the conduct of the plebiscite.
He also asked the NEPC to submit a report on all the deliverables it is committing to infuse when it takes over the power distribution areas of Ceneco.
Poe said she wants the concerns raised addressed swiftly because she does not want to delay progress, pointing out that with better services everyone in Bacolod will win.
FRANCHISE A PRIVILEGE
The two other bills seeking franchises that were heard by Poe’s committee on Tuesday were for the Leyte II Electric Cooperative Inc. and the Romblon Electric Cooperative Inc.
“Having a franchise is a privilege. Attached to this is the great responsibility to provide public service. Therefore, when it is not performed properly it can be withdrawn,” she said.
The hearing will allow the committee to scrutinize the pending bills to ensure that a franchise is only granted to those qualified and responsible to provide good public service, Poe added.*