Manila Electric Company’s (Meralco) is just a few steps away from a franchise renewal after the Philippine Senate gave its final approval to the relevant bill.

In a bourse filing, the company said the upper house on 3 February approved House Bill 10296 extending Meralco’s franchise for another 25 years.

The proposed measure will now be referred to the House of Representatives for concurrence of the amendments made by the Senate, it added.

Meralco’s franchise covers the construction, operation, and maintenance of a distribution system for the conveyance of electric power to end-users in parts of Luzon.

After amendments are made, the bill will be sent to the Philippine president for his signature.