MANILA — The House of Representatives approved on third and final reading on Wednesday a measure seeking to grant Meralco a fresh 25-year franchise.

During the plenary session, 186 voted in favor of House Bill 10926, seven voted against it, and four abstained.

The measure, if passed into law, would renew Meralco’s franchise to construct, operate, and maintain electric distribution systems for another 25 years.

Santa Rosa City Rep. Dan Fernandez voted against the bill saying Meralco failed to comply with the conditions in its franchise.

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 “Ayaw sumunod ng Meralco sa [Electric Power Industry Reform Act] na dapat ay electricity is being given to consumers in the least cost manner, and of course dapat reasonable ang rate of return to the investors ,” he said.

(Meralco is not following EPIRA, where consumers should get electricity at the least cost while also giving a reasonable rate of return to investors) 

He added that, under its current franchise, Meralco should submit its finance and operations reports to Congress.

“Ilang beses na natin hiningi ang kanilang reports, hanggang ngayon hindi pa isina-submit sa atin,” Fernandez added.

(We have repeatedly asked for those reports but they have not submitted them to us)

Kabataan Party List Rep. Raoul Manuel also questioned the early renewal of Meralco ’s franchise, when the existing franchise is valid until 2028, saying the apparent rush sets aside public interest.

“Hindi pa nasusuri nang husto ang performance record ng Meralco at ang kanilang mga plano para mapabuti ang serbisyo sa mga konsyumer. Ang pag-apruba sa franchise renewal nang walang masinsinang pagsusuri ay taliwas sa interes ng ating mga ordinaryong kababayan,” he said.

(Meralco's performance record and plans to improve its services have yet to be scrutinized. Approving this franchise renewal without a comprehensive review does not serve the interest of regular Filipinos) 

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Manuel pointed out that consumers as well as small business are suffering from high power rates, which he said are the highest in Asia. 

But House Committee on Ways and Means Chairperson Joey Salceda of Albay defended Meralco , calling it an “exemplar of how service reliability can create economic growth and development”.

“Using estimates from the PSA input-output tables and data from the ERC on outages due to power supply by distribution utilities, the country would gain a net gross value added of P204.29 billion every year if all its coops and utilities performed like Meralco ,” Salceda said in a statement.

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“This is the fruit of some P220 billion Meralco  invested in reducing systems losses and system interruptions. No wonder as many as 40 localities have asked MERALCO to cover them,” he added. 

For Salceda, Meralco has “fully complied with the ERC's rules and issuances”, with some P48.3 billion in consumer refunds “delivered in full”.

“As I repeatedly assert, the role of the franchise review process in Congress is to see whether a grantee has complied with its mandates. In this regard, there can be little question. Meralco has fulfilled its end of the current franchise law,” he said.

“I expect quick passage in the Senate and perhaps even no bicam,” Salceda noted.