THE Senate passed on second reading the bill expanding the franchise area of AboitizPower subsidiary Davao Light and Power Company (DLPC) to Davao del Norte on Thursday, May 27, 2022.

The Upper House passed on second reading House Bill (HB) 10554 (Committee Report No. 609) or an act expanding the franchise area of DLPC of the AboitizPower subsidiary to include Tagum City, the Island Garden City of Samal (Igacos), Asuncion, Kapalong, New Corella, San Isidro, and Talaingod in Davao del Norte. These areas are currently covered by the Northern Davao Electric Cooperative (Nordeco).

The bill aims to ammend Republic Act (RA) No. 8960.

At present, the franchise area of Davao Light only covers Davao City and Panabo City, Carmen, Dujali, and Sto. Tomas in Davao del Norte.

HB 10554 was authored by Palawan Representative Franz Alvarez, Committee on Legislative Franchises chairperson, along with Mindanawon Representatives including Davao del Norte Representative Pantaleon Alvarez, PBA Partylist Representative Jericho Nograles, and Camiguin Representative Xavier Romualdo. Manila Fourth District Representative Edward Maceda also sponsored the bill. The lower passed it on third and final reading on January 24 this year.

In the Senate, HB 10554 was sponsored Senator Grace Poe while Senator Ralph Recto serves as co-sponsor.

’Continuous eletric supply’

The bill's purpose aims to provide continuous and uninterrupted supply of electricity in the franchise area.

This is in response to the alleged continued inability of Nordeco to improve its poor service that has exacerbated the miseries faced by his constituents during the Covid-19 pandemic crisis.

During the Senate Interpolation, Recto, citing information from the Committee on Public Services, said the overall performance of Nordeco is very dismal, given that its systems loss is almost at 19 percent. In contrast, he added, DLPC has a systems loss of only five percent.

“That is why there is a clamor among the business community in Davao del Norte, among the representatives, among the local government officials, among all the mayors and the governor, to move their franchise area from Nordeco to DLPC, not to mention that DLPC offers electricity rates at roughly P3 cheaper or 25 percent cheaper,” Recto said.

Senator Risa Hontiveros questioned Recto whether due process has been accorded to Nordeco in assessing the need to expand the franchise area of DLPC.

Despite the problems hounding the operations of Nordeco, Hontiveros pointed out that the electric cooperative made strides in improving its overall performance such as bringing down the systems loss, revitalizing leadership and workforce, and categorization improvements, among others.

“That’s why I ask for a little more time for problem solving... because have these improvements been taken into account as we deliberate whether or not we terminate Nordeco’s franchise and award it to another entity?,” the lady senator said.

In response, Recto reiterated that these have already been discussed in committee deliberations, saying “the fact remains that, based on compliance report on the performance of electric cooperatives, they are still on the bottom 10 percent of electric cooperatives.”

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, on the other hand, suggested that Congress could revoke the franchise of an electric cooperative instead of reducing its franchise area, thereby disabling the cooperative to operate.

“Maybe it would be better to revoke the franchise of Nordeco to avoid legal complications that would arise with the existence of two franchises in the same franchise area,” Drilon said.

Maco is out

In the original House Bill proposal, Maco in Davao de Oro was included in the franchise expansion. However, it was delisted.

Recto recommended DLPC to provide electricity to Davao de Oro but local officials want Nordeco to remain its service provider.

Davnor Modernization Movement Convenor Ave Rose Castillo thanked the senators for passing the bill.

"We want to thank our Senators for hearing our plea for better electrical services and we are confident the next step of Third and Final Reading will go on smoothly because the people of Davao del Norte are behind you," Castillo said.

She, however, said that they are dismayed with Maco not being included in the franchise.

"Maco was dropped from the bill primarily because of the opposition of the current provincial leaders of Davao de Oro," Castillo said.

"We are dismayed by this development because it will prevent progress in Maco — a strategic port municipality adjacent to the commercial city of Tagum," Castillo added.

Meanwhile, she said she is confident the newly-elected provincial leadership "will not let politics prevent Davao de Oro and its people from enjoying cheaper electricity and better service."

DLPC and Nordeco have not issued any statement following the development of the measure in the Senate.