More lawmakers call for renewal of Meralco’s legislative franchise

MANILA, Philippines — Two more senior administration lawmakers, on top of the previous two officials of the House of Representatives who endorsed the renewal of the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) franchise, have supported the grant of another 25-year legislative franchise to the company.

Reps. Sergio Dagooc and Presley de Jesus of party-list APEC and Philreca, respectively, affirmed their support for the extension of the power distributor’s franchise, echoing the same sentiments of administration stalwarts Reps. Joey Salceda and Rufus Rodriguez.

Salceda sits as chairman of the ways and means panel, while Rodriguez heads the committee on constitutional amendments.

Both Dagooc and De Jesus have acknowledged the efforts of Meralco to distribute stable and reliable electricity to customers within its franchise area in Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Rizal and select areas in Pampanga, Laguna, Batangas and Quezon.

The country’s largest private sector electricity distributor has a total of 7.8 million customers.

Dagooc, who oversees several electric cooperatives in Mindanao, manifested that he would “vote for the approval” of Meralco’s franchise renewal, as he reiterated his position on other issues that have been clarified by Meralco.

De Jesus said he will also join Dagooc in voting in the affirmative for the franchise renewal, adding that he recognizes that “Meralco is reliable and dependable” and has consistently delivered benefits to many Filipino consumers.

He further asked Meralco about more corporate social responsibility projects and programs that will benefit consumers, to which Meralco responded in the affirmative.

Concerns on the delay of Meralco’s rate reset process were also raised during the three-hour deliberations, with House committee on energy chairman Rep. Lord Allan Velasco saying “it’s up to the ERC” to act on the matter as it is the one responsible for the crafting of rules.

“We really have to look at the ERC because that’s the heart of the whole energy industry,” he said.

Rep. Gus Tambunting, chairman of the House committee on legislative franchises, said that while issues have been raised, Meralco was able to respond to most of them, but there will likely be another hearing.

“There have been many explanations that we accept. We found them sound and reasonable but of course there are some that would need further clarification,” the second district congressman of Parañaque said.

He, however, said the committee is willing to schedule a special session while Congress is on recess to provide an avenue for all concerns to be addressed before the lawmakers vote on the proposed bills authored by Salceda, Rodriguez and Velasco.

Salceda, a former National Economic and Development Authority secretary-general, said the franchise of Meralco deserves to be extended beyond 2028, for another 25 years or until 2053.

“The case for renewing Meralco’s franchise is plain and simple: it has complied with the conditions of the franchise law and it is good for the economy and the consumer,” the Bicolano congressman said.

For his part, Rodriguez – who also sits as vice chairman of the House committee on trade and industry – says renewing Meralco’s franchise “sends a strong signal of economic stability to potential investors, whether local or foreign.”