Panay Electric Co. virtually lost its legislative franchise early this week amid protests over its declaration of hundreds of millions of profits in the past three years while Iloilo City residents condemned its bad service and inefficiency.
The House of Representatives voted on third and final reading on a bill granting the franchise to More Minerals Corp. on Monday evening, thus, ending half of the legislative battle for Peco to secure a new franchise to replace the current congressional franchise expiring on January 18, 2019.
The Cacho family owns 70 percent of the company, which is seeking to renew its legislative franchise.
The company’s alleged bad record of service to its franchise area covering Iloilo City has convinced members of the House of Representatives Committee on Legislative Franchises to deny the renewal of its franchise.
The House, instead, approved the committee’s recommendation that the legislative franchise to operate the electricity distribution service in Iloilo be granted to another applicant—More Minerals Corp.