The second idea in dealing with blackouts caused by Panay Electric Co. (PECO) is to open Iloilo City's power distribution business to another franchisee. I'm quite unsure if this will solve the problem, yet Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog thinks it can. In news reports, he said the city can invite the Aboitiz and Manny Pangilinan groups to come in and engage in power distribution service.

I'm curious if these groups will also have the same mind frame as PECO – profit. So, they will think of how much investment will be required from them and how much they will profit.

For the sake of discussion, they will also ask: is it legally worth fighting for and how much it will cost us? These companies are aware that in the Philippines, it is expensive to secure a franchise for power distribution because the applicant has to go through the tedious "crocodile process" in Congress. They are also aware that to get support from the local government, they need to go through the same process.

So, if it will cost them much, just imagine how much it will cost if one's franchise is revoked in order to have it divided into three.

Lawyers think that this is legally challenging. PECO, which currently holds an exclusive franchise granted by Congress will not take it sitting down and watch its sole franchise area broken down. Inside information from PECO revealed that money is just trickling down to the pockets of its owners per minute. Definitely, PECO will not allow Mabilog's idea to succeed.

Also, we have yet to hear the experts at the City Legal Office present a convincing analysis to show that Mabilog's "out of the blue" idea is legally sound and possible to implement. Under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA), however, power distribution is a "natural monopoly", a favourite assertion by PECO's Engr. Randy Pastolero to emphasize that they have the legitimate control over power distribution service in the city. They have yet to see for themselves how another franchise will unfold in the midst of its legal claim.

At the receiving end of these efforts are the consumers. Today, with PECO's effective rate of more than P12/kWh, we can only imagine how much this "out of the blue" idea will cost consumers monthly. I'm quite definite that Mayor Mabilog did not calculate its cost on the consumers.

As far as I am concerned, the Mabilog administration failed to provide both practical and legal substance to his proposal. This shows that he is merely responding to the issue after the business sector complained of power interruptions.

Blackouts have been occurring for three years now but the city government did not do anything about it like assert its power to make public utilities meet the city's development goal.

What we hear are just words. Let us try to look into the long-term plan of the city and you'll see that there are no plans for clean energy sources, energy supply security, efficient service, just cost of electricity, consumer protection from abuses of PECO and alternative ownership to monopoly. (To be continued)