The proposed bill which is surprisingly authored by non-Mindanaon representative, Alfredo Garbin of AKO Bicol Partylist in theBicol Region was deliberated on November 29, and approved in less than
two days on Second Reading on December 1. It is scheduled for the third and final reading.
The November 29 deliberation lasted for about 1hour and 45 minutes without the position papers from the Department of Energy,National Electrification Administration, and Energy Regulatory Commissionaccording to Nordeco’s representative during the deliberation in the person of lawyer Danniel C. Campoamor.
“While some local political leaders in Davao delNorte attended the hearing, the 230,000 member-consumers (MCOs) of Nordeco werenot given the opportunity to be heard,” Campoamor said.
“For the record, 94,755 verified bonafide member-consumer-owners of NORDECO have signed a
Manifesto registering their firm stance for and vehement objection against any move to sell or transferDANECO, Inc. to any private entity or corporation like DLPC. It is noted further that only the political leaders in Davao del Norte were formallyinvited when the whole franchise including Davao de Oro is affected by thepassage of the house bill,” Nordeco said in a statement.
During the December 1 plenary session, Representative Carlos Zarate of the Anak Bayan Partylist said the bill waspassed even in the absence of a general assembly on the part of Nordeco and itsMember Owner-Consumers (MOCs) to validate the petition of some local government units (LGUs) to let DLPC take over the said two cities and six municipalities.
“Was there any consultation among Nordeco memberowners consumers (MCOs) in a general assembly) to validate such claims? To myknowledge there was no such general assembly that validated the petitions ofsome LGUs that they want another power utility to come in,” Zarate posed this question/statement to Garbin during the December 1 plenary session. Zarate also cited and read before the plenary Presidential Decree 269 : “ which categorically declared that electric cooperatives shall be given every tenable support and assistance by the National Government, its instrumentalities and agencies to the fullest extent of which they are capable. The same principlehas been firmly echoed in Section 41 (c) of R. A. No. 6038, otherwise known as the National Electrification Act, which expressly states that “…NO FRANCHISEFOR SERVICE SHALL BE GRANTED TO ANY OTHER PERSON WITHIN ANY AREA OR A PORTIONFOR WHICH A COOPERATIVE HOLDS A FRANCHISE.”
Earlier, members of the Power Bloc at the lowerhouse in a statement strongly opposed the measure. Philippine Rural ElectricCooperatives Association (PHILRECA) party list representative Presley De Jesus said the bill would constitute an unwarranted monopoly of distribution services, not just in the largest city in the Philippines in terms of land area(Davao City), but including the two provinces of Davao Region.
Association of Philippine Electric Cooperatives(APEC) Representative Sergio Dagooc maintained that granting DLPC a franchise in those areas covered by NORDECO’s franchise would diminish the
invaluable efforts of the electric cooperative that served Northern Davao for decades.Rural Electric Consumer and Beneficiaries of Development and Advancement(RECOBODA) Representative Godofredo Guya said the bill violates the law of equal protection to electric cooperatives like Nordeco.
Nordeco in a statement said: “NORDECO is compliant with the Performance Indicators set by the regulatory bodies like National Electrification Administration (NEA) and Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).Specifically, on the power interruption standards, the parameters on the System Average Interruption Frequency Index or SAIFI and System Average Interruption Duration Index or SAIDI show that NORDECO is COMPLIANT.
Power interruptions are not solely caused by the distribution utility since the interruption also comes from the Generation or Transmission Sector. NORDECO has a sufficient power supply for its franchise area. Contrary to the allegations, NORDECO has a total contracted power supply of 112.50 megawatts which is more than enough to meet its 104MW peak demand requirement.”
Marilou Impuesto, the Institutional Services Department Manager of Nordeco when asked to comment, she said: “No SPECIFICgrounds were even raised as basis of the carving out of the 6 Municipalitiesand 2 Cities and NORDECO was not even ACCORDED due process. Due diligence should have been made prior to the passage of the house bill. If DLPC want to serve and help
the country, doon sila mag extend sa Sulu,Tawi-Tawi and BARMM areas.”
The December 1 plenary session raked some reactions from netizens:
Lab Lee : “Mr. Garbin, u don't know anything aboutNORDECO.. you've never been in our place.. Ikaw pa ga author ana nga housebill? Ok raka?”
Velvet Gomez: “WHY AKO BICOL PARTYLIST MR GARBINAUTHORED THIS BILL. WHEN YOU
ARE FROM BICOL. WHAT IS YOUR BUSINESS IN THE DELNORTE AND DE ORO AREAS BECAUSE IT’S AS IF YOU KNOW WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE IN OUR LAND, EVEN BEFORE THE HEARING YOU ALREADY HAVE THE DECISION AT HAND. HOWPOOR IS THE PROCEEDING OF THIS GOVERNMENT THANK YOU SO MUCH CONG. PRESLEY DEJESUS, WE ARE TRULY BLESSED TO HAVE YOU AND THE OTHER POWER BLOCREPRESENTATIVES.” Eirene Selene: THANK YOU SO MUCH CONGRESSMAN ZARATE, WE ARETRULY HONORED AND GRATEFUL FOR STANDING AND FIGHTING FOR US, NORDECO, God Bless your Heart po.
VitexSantos: “We will rise after this pandemic! with the help of stable andaffordable electricity! #YestoDavaoLight” Jerome Basil: “Yes to Davao Light! Itwill open a lot of opportunities, kay stable
na kuryente!”
“FRANCHISE-GRABBING” says workers of the Northern Davao Electric Cooperative, Inc. wearing
black shirts to strongly object the impending takeover of Davao Light and Power Company. The Black
Friday protest is being held every Friday outside their office building in Tagum City. Contributed
Photo from Nordeco
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