Iloilo City power distribution firm More Electric and Power Corp. (MORE Power) said the Supreme Court’s (SC) ruling declaring the validity of its operation is a major win for consumers.
Roel Castro, MORE president, said in a statement. the SC’s decision assures 65,000 consumers in the city they will have a modern power distribution system as the company vowed to continue its planned upgrades.
The High Tribunal favored the petition of MORE Power and reversed the July 2019 ruling of the Mandaluyong Regional Trial Court that declared unconstitutional Sections 10 and 17 of Republic Act 11212 that granted the company’s franchise to operate in 2019.
Section 10 and Section 17 of the law enabled MORE Power with the power of eminent domain, and to acquire the private assets of the formerdistribution utility, Panay Electric Co. including poles, wires, cables, transformers, switching equipment, stations and buildings, machinery and equipment which it uses in its operations.