By Ali G. Macabalang

LANAO del Sur Congressmen Zia Alonto-Adiong and Yasser Alonto-Balindong want the overdue debts of their province’s electric cooperative of more or less P12-billion condoned by the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM).

Power consumers in Maguindanao, meanwhile, have taken cue from the Lanao solons’ stride and expressed hope that their lawmakers will exert similar effort for PSALM to condone the P3-billion debt of Maguindanao Electric Cooperative (MAGELCO).

Industry stakeholders and experts believe that unless a drastic remedy is done, the debts of LASURECO and MAGELCO will continue to balloon steadily due to interest rates in the principal obligations and penalties. They were pessimistic about the capacities of the two cooperatives to pay their debts in a lifetime.

Due to such indebtedness, PSALM has decreased the energy allocation to LASURECO and MAGELCO in serving the provinces of Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao (now split into two provinces), which are the mainland provinces of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

The minimized electric supply causes insufficient electricity in the two cooperatives’ service areas.

The Office of the BARMM Chief Minister recently announced that in this current year alone, the autonomous region has received P3.5-billion worth of investments, adding that the volume would have been bigger if the region enjoyed a sufficient and stable power supply.

Alongside Reps. Presley C. De Jesus and Sergio C. Dagooc, Adiong and Balindong authored House Bill 6424 to push for the “condonation of the overdue power accounts by the Lanao del Sur Electric Cooperative, Inc. (Lasureco)” from the PSALM “including the principal amount, unpaid interest, penalties, and unremitted universal charges.”

The bill was filed on November 29, 2022 and has since been pending deliberation with the House Committee on Energy, according to the House website.

As of March 31, 2021, Lasureco owed the PLSALM some P11.98 billion overdue power bills and another P10.37 million in unremitted universal charge (UC) collections, excluding late remittance of interest charges, or a total of P 11.99 billion, according to PSALM president-CEO Irene Besido Garcia. (AGM)

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FEATURED PHOTOS: Supplied photos of Lanao del Sur Reps Zia Alonto Adiong and Yasser Alonto Balindong (1st Dist. and 2nd Dist. respectively).