THE bill calling for the takeover of the Aboitiz-owned Davao Light and Power Company (Davao Light) of brownout-plagued areas north of the Davao Region has continued to generate support.

The open support has been continuously coming out recently from both the business sector and affected residents long been suffering from daily brownouts blamed on the lack of capacity of the current electricity franchise holder, Davao del Norte Electric Cooperative, otherwise known as Nordeco or Daneco.

House Bill 6740 authored by Pwersa ng Bayaning Atleta (PBA) Party-list Rep. Margarita “Atty. Migs” Nograles is seeking to reduce the coverage of Nordeco franchise to allow Davao Light to serve the electricity needs of Asuncion, Kapalong, New Corella, San Isidro and Talaingod, and in Tagum City and Island Garden City of Samal, all in Davao del Norte; and in Maco, Davao de Oro.

The Tagum City Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TCCCI) is among the major entities backing the bill by Rep. Nograles and came out publicly to manifest its stance. "We hope that we can work together in pushing this bill until it is approved by the President," said TCCCI president Engr. Aerol Conde, Jr. in a statement.

Businessman Chate Te, a restaurant owner in Samal, complained of damaged equipment, spoiled food and dissatisfied customers because of the continuing brownouts. He said he and many Samal Island businessmen are supporting the Davao Light takeover.

The Davao Consumer Movement (DCM) headed by convenor Ryan Amper has also been vocal in its support for the Davao Lighttakeover. "The consumer and business groups in Davao are looking forward that more areas in Davao del Norte and Davao de Oro will benefit from the lower power rates of DLPC [Davao Light] at P8 per kilowatt hour compared to Nordeco’s rate of P14 per kWh," DCM said.

Davao del Norte Governor Edwin Jubahib, meanwhile, has long been asking for the removal of the franchise from Nordeco's hands, citing the sufferings of residents and the damage caused to businesses.

Nograles said there are compelling reasons to pave the way for the Davao Light takeover.

“Over the years, Nordeco has suffered from losses and conflicting factions within the cooperative which have led to inadequate infrastructure, piling debts to service providers including power suppliers, canceled power supply contracts, excessive systems losses, and failure to energize parts of its franchise area even up to this time. The local government units of the franchise area reached out to the Nordeco Board of Directors to improve their service, and the problems of Nordeco persisted,” read HB 6740’s explanatory note.

Nograles's initiative has the support of House Deputy Speaker Sandro Marcos. Several other congressmen have filed similar bills of manifested support.

Some residents have clamored for the "full takeover" of Davao Light. 

"Go Davao Light sa tibuok Davao Norte," wrote netizen Carlo Seroy in a post.

"Davao light please takeover asap," said Amiya Palma. Another netizen, Lara Mae Sayson wrote: "Kaluy-an unta nga ma pass (sa Congress) para sa kaayuhan sa DavNor." PR