Kidapawan city hall may have power cut off over unpaid bills

KIDAPAWAN CITY — It will be lights out in city hall unless the local government settles its multimillion-peso electricity bill.

 

Vicente Baguio, Cotabato Electric Cooperative (Cotelco) spokesman, said a demand letter has already been sent to the city government over unpaid bills amounting close to P6 million. 

 

Baguio said the city government has until the second week of March to settle the bills. Otherwise, “Cotelco will be compelled to cut power supply (and) that might affect the services of city hall."

 

Last Tuesday, the city council approved a request from Mayor Joseph Evangelista asking for money to pay the city's power bill. Councilor Lauro Taynan Jr., who chairs the council's committee on energy, said the council approved the appropriation of at least P3.4 million to pay Cotelco.

 

Taynan has asked Cotelco to accept partial payment and to keep city hall and Kidapawan's street lights connected to the power grid. Baguio said Cotelco will consider partial payment if the city government can issue a promissory note to pay the balance before the end of the billing period.

 

Meanwhile, residents have again appealed to city officials to push for a 25-percent priority load dispatch from the Mindanao Geothermal Production Field on Mount Apo to address two- and four-hour rotational brownouts in the city.

 

The 25-percent load dispatch was stipulated in a memorandum of agreement before the geothermal plant was given a permit to operate.

 

John Pagaduan, an official the Philippine Jaycees here, said his group is again appealing to city officials to push for priority dispatch of power from the geothermal plant.

 

Pagaduan's group held a street protest last April to urge the city government address daily eight-hour brownouts in the city.

 

“It seems that our local officials are deaf to our request,” he said, adding his group may stage another protest soon. — Williamor Magbanua/JDS, GMA News