By CHRIS V. PANGANIBAN
MONTEVISTA, Davao de Oro — Confusion has gripped electricity consumers in the Island Garden City of Samal (Igacos) after workers of Davao Light and Power Company (DLPC) allegedly began profiling households in areas that Northern Davao Electric Cooperative (Nordeco) said remain under its service coverage.
Elvera Alngog, Nordeco’s acting general manager, called on the Aboitiz-owned utility to respect the court ruling, which, she said, left 20 of Samal’s 46 barangays under the electric cooperative’s operations. According to Alngog, DLPC personnel recently visited households in these barangays and took photographs of electric meters, supposedly to encode consumption data into their system for billing purposes.
She said the move caused uncertainty among residents, especially since the areas involved were not among those allegedly covered by DLPC’s current takeover. The power utility is expected to begin distributing residential bills this week for March electricity consumption.
The controversy stemmed from a writ of possession granted by a local trial court in favor of DLPC over power distribution assets in Samal as part of expropriation proceedings tied to Republic Act No. 12144, the law that expanded Davao Light’s franchise to parts of Davao del Norte and Davao de Oro. DLPC earlier said the takeover would help ensure safer, more reliable, and uninterrupted electricity service on the island.
Nordeco, however, has maintained that the writ covers only certain assets in 26 barangays and does not extend to the entire Samal distribution system. Alngog said the issue of overlapping operations had already been brought before the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), particularly over the 20 barangays that the cooperative still considers part of its service area.
She noted that DLPC had not carried out similar activities in Tagum City and nearby towns, even after taking over four substations and Nordeco’s main office building last month. According to Alngog, this showed that DLPC recognized that while it had acquired the substations, the distribution lines in those areas remained under Nordeco’s operation.
To address operational concerns, Nordeco and DLPC held a meeting last week, with the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) serving as mediator. The parties agreed to assign focal persons to handle technical matters, particularly to minimize and respond to power interruptions.
Nordeco has also elevated the dispute to the Supreme Court. In a statement issued on April 6, the cooperative said it had filed a petition for review and certiorari, along with an application for a temporary restraining order, arguing that the enforcement of the writ of possession was “not final.” Nordeco said it would pursue all available legal remedies to prevent possible power disruptions in Tagum City and nearby areas.
The cooperative said the writ covered four substations in Tagum City and Asuncion, Davao del Norte, as well as the Nordeco Tipaz office, but did not include the distribution lines serving Tagum City. It warned that the municipalities of New Corella, Talaingod, and Kapalong in Davao del Norte, as well as Laak town in Davao de Oro, could be affected since their power supply comes from Nordeco’s Asuncion Substation, one of the facilities covered by the writ.
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