The Department of Energy (DOE) asserted that it will not allow the legal dispute between Panay Electric Co. (PECO) and MORE Electric and Power Corp. (MORE) to affect the power supply in Iloilo City.
“The issue in Iloilo is not on supply, it’s on the operation of PECO there plus their legal concerns with MORE. Definitely, DOE is closely monitoring the situation in Iloilo, and we have to ensure there’s no disruption of services,” DOE Director Mario Marasigan was quoted as saying in a BusinessMirror report.
Marasigan believed that there will be no shortage in supply as Panay still exports to Cebu, and the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) is operational in Visayas.
According to the report, Visayas power reserves stood at 186 MW versus available generating capacity of 2,174 MW and demand of 1,988 MW.
In related news, the Supreme Court (SC) rejected PECO’s petition to transfer the case filed by MORE to any court outside the province.
As stated in the BusinessMirror report, PECO wanted the case transferred “on the possibility that the judge handling the subject may be subjected to public pressure since all actions are under close scrutiny.”
The SC retaliated stating that “the mere possibility of prejudice is not sufficient to justify a transfer of venue, as aptly argued by MORE.”
The High Court also argued that PECO failed to present not only “adequate proof that the accompanying publicity may cause prejudice to it” but also adequate proof that “a miscarriage of justice would arise in the event that the subject case continues to be heard in the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Iloilo.”
