Decorp seeks ERC opinion
THAT ELECTRIC METER
THE fate of one electric meter is what stands in the middle of an issue whether a bank can continue to operate legitimately in Dagupan City.
After Mayor Belen Fernandez ordered the terminantion of the contract of the electric meter being used by the CityState Savings Bank, the Dagupan Electric Corporation (Decorp), too irresolute to make its own stand, is now seeking the opinion of the the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).
In its letter, Decorp is asking the ERC on what it should do about the mayor’s order to terminate the contract, which would mean removing the meter located at the bank’s premises which is being used without permission by the bank.
City Legal Officer George Mejia said Decorp furnished the city with its letter referring the matter to ERC, to explain the inability its tinability to comply with the mayor’s order.
According to Mejia, he was informed that ERC in turn endorsed Decorp’s letter sent to its legal department for opinion.
Based on these developments, Mejia believes the electric meter, being used presently by the bank remains listed under the account of the Dagupan City government.
Meanwhile the bank continues to pay for the consumption of the bank, and Decorp reportedly regularly accepts the payments to this day despite the order of the city hall to terminate the contract.
CityState Savings Bank is one of the subsidiaries of the AMD ALD Holdings, the company that bought the former MC Adore Hotel from Dagupan City through the administration of then Mayor Benjamin Lim for P119 million.
CityState could not get its own electric supply connection because it does not have a business permit from city hall, a prerequisite for applying with Decorp.
Meanwhile, the One-Stop Business Center could not grant CityState a permit because it does not have the required building and occupancy permits from the city engineering office, which has denied the company’s application pending the resolution of the court case over the controversial sale of the MC Adore building.–LVM
