MISAMIS Oriental provincial administrator John Venice Ladaga on Thursday (February 20) strongly denied that the administration of Gov. Peter Unabia has a plan to lobby for the privatization of beleaguered utility Moresco II.
For more than a decade now, Moresco II has been in the hot seat both from officials and the public for constant outages in its service area and unexplained steep increases in bills to its consumers.
The electric cooperative serves almost 80,000 residential and institutional consumers in Gingoog City and the towns of Balingasag, Claveria, Lagonglong, Kinoguitan, Magsaysay, Medina, Salay, Sugbongcogon and Talisayan.
In an interview, Ladaga clarified that what will transpire on Friday (February 21) will be a power consumers forum.
He said that the reports circulating on social media are the handiworks of political opponents but did not name names.
However in a report by another local newspaper (not this paper or Mindanao Daily), former Vice Gov. Jose Mari Pelaez did not mince words in expressing his fear that the forum is a prelude to Moresco II’s privatization, alluding the presence of Meralco executives.
Although Pelaez is not running this election, he is a known supporter of Unabia’s challenger, former Rep. Juliette Uy.
Ladaga, however confirmed that Meralco was invited to share their best practices during the forum for the electric cooperative to emulate.
The mega power distributor – the largest in the country – will be represented by external affairs chief Arnel Casanova, utility partnerships head Rene Acuna and legal counsel Jacinto Sales Jr.
The daylong forum to be held in Gingoog City will be attended by stakeholders across all sectors including the concerned mayors and barangay chairs, civil society, academe, technical experts and even the Oro Chamber.
Keynoting the forum will be NEA administrator Antonio Mariano Almeda and a high-ranking representative from the Department of Energy.
Ladaga said the forum is a culmination of consultations at the grassroots level addressing the issues hounding Moresco II.
“It is part of Governor Unabia’s PAGLAUM development agenda. The governor has made sure that the interest of the consumers and the constituency is utmost of all,” he said.
