Cagayan de Oro 2nd district Rep. Rufus Rodriguez (Facebook)

Are there "vested interests" at play in the call to divide into three the franchise of power distribution giant Manila Electric Company (Meralco)?

Cagayan de Oro 2nd district Rep. Rufus Rodriguez thinks so.

In a statement Thursday, Nov. 30, Rodriguez challenged those pushing for a three-way split of the Meralco franchise to identify who should take over the huge responsibility of ensuring that there will always be sufficient supply to support not just households, but the country’s growing economy.

“These calls happen even before Meralco’s franchise expires, so clearly there are interests playing around here. But the interest that we should be focusing on is that of the Filipino people,” said the veteran lawmaker.

Rodriguez, a member of the House Committees on Energy and on Economic Affairs, said individuals and groups claiming to be pro-consumers should instead focus on coming up with concrete solutions to high power rates and service reliability, not just in areas serviced by Meralco.

“As representatives of the Filipino people, it is our responsibility to enlighten the public about what is really happening and not cause confusion by bringing up proposals that have not been carefully studied,” he said.

Meralco's service area covers the entire National Capital Region (NCR) and nearby provinces.

Rodriguez clarified that he has no problems with questioning the Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) of Meralco and other power distributors, as this would actually resolve the long-standing issue on the absence of rate reset for many regulated entities.

"But if WACC is the problem, isn't the logical solution review the WACC and have the regulator complete the rate reset process," he said.

Some congressmen have assailed Meralco for its high power rates, which they have linked to its current WACC.

Romualdez also slammed the misinformation emanating from different groups, as some have claimed that Meralco controls Calabarzon. He said it can easily be verified that the service area only covers part of the region.

Calabarzon remains to be a growth area and many investors are locating in the region, which is precisely the reason why it is crucial that there is sufficient, reliable, and affordable power supply, he said.