MORE ELECTRIC and Power Co. (MORE Power) has started ground preparations for taking over the electricity distribution service in Iloilo City despite pending court cases, while its top official said they are very open to an amicable settlement with competitor Panay Electric Co., Inc. (PECO). “With the tremendous corrections that we have to do, I want to make sure that we hit the ground running on day one. If we don’t do anything and wait for the takeover, it might take six months or longer then I feel that is a bit unfair to the consumers having seen the state of the utility,” MORE Power President and Chief Executive Officer Roel Z. Castro said during a soft-launch of their new brand and look on May 21. Mr. Castro said they have already met with the barangay chairmen and have conducted meter mapping for over 63,000 connections. “We have finished our meter mapping in all barangays and over 2,000 meters were not functioning and 13,000 are defective. There are so many illegal connections and meters that are not functioning, that is the extent of work that we will do,” he said. The meters are under current distributor PECO, whose franchise has expired. On the pending court cases between the two companies, Mr. Castro said they are ready to discuss a settlement with PECO. “Of course, there is room for settlement. As to reaching out, it has been publicly open, they know our numbers,” he said. — Emme Rose S. Santiagudo

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