"Here’s a clear case of misrepresentation."
It seems Iloilo’s former distribution utility, Panay Electric Company, is so desperate to reclaim the city’s power distribution that it is reportedly resorting to “below-the-belt moves by tapping the services of certain individuals misrepresenting themselves as officers of a legitimate organization.
A consumer group in Iloilo City has expressed disgust over two Ilonggo personalities who continue to misrepresent a SEC-registered organization to advance their self-interests and personal gains by deliberately attempting to score points in favor of PECO, the disgraced utility distributor in this southern metropolis.
Halley Alcarde, president of Koalisyon Bantay Kuryente, Inc. with SEC Registration No. CN202069462, has called on Jose Allen Aquino and Ruperto Supena to stop using KBK in their campaign to attack More Power, the new power distributor. “Not only are they misrepresenting our organization, they are misleading the public in telling the Manila press that their sentiment is the sentiment of the Iloilo consumers.”
According to Alcarde, the two have been using KBK and its identity without permission. We did not give them that mandate,” he said, adding, “For the record, these two are not in any way connected with the KBK and cannot speak on behalf of our thousands of members.”
Aquino and Supena conducted a virtual press conference with members of the Manila media yesterday purportedly after “KBK” filed a complaint with the Energy Regulatory Commission to demand compensation from More Power for what they claimed were “systems loss charges.”
While Alcarde says the two can attack More Power all they want as they have the freedom to do that as consumers, they should not mislead the public into thinking they are backed by the Iloilo community and the real KBK in their smear campaign against More is unforgivable.
Alcarde says he has called for a special meeting today of the KBK Board of Trustees to address the issue and for the organization to take a firm stand against bogus individuals who have been using the KBK to their advantage.
Alcarde says they will initiate correspondence with the ERC to officially put on record that they have nothing to do with Aquino and Supena’s claims.
Additionally, they will be consulting their legal counsel to discuss what particular charges they can file against “this pair of PECO bootlickers to stop them from further misrepresenting not only KBK but the power consumers of Iloilo City as well.”
“We already have our hands full dealing with the COVID-19 virus. We should not allow other viruses to infect the minds of people and sicken them,” Alcarde adds.
Although saying they do not want to take sides on the issues between PECO and More Power, Alcarde says it is our common stand that Iloilo City is far better with the latter, especially as they bear witness to the day-to-day improvements of the distribution services.
While they might still be some downsides, Alcarde says they are aware of the fact that the power anomalies and outages they “are experiencing right now are a result of PECO’s severely underdeveloped distribution facilities and neglect.”
“Our association, being the legitimate representative of the Iloilo City power consumers, cannot and will not ignore these acts of misrepresentation by Aquino and Supena; they owe us and the public an explanation and an apology,” he said, adding the two were better off acknowledging the significant changes and accomplishments of More in just six months of operation.
KBK is a coalition of various organizations including Western Visayas Transport Cooperative, Division Federated Parents-Teachers Association of Iloilo City, Iloilo City Loop Alliance of Jeepney Operators and Drivers Association, the Church sector, the media, and the advocacy group Bawal Ang Korap.
