THE RISING cost of living and survival for hundreds of thousands of Filipinos is most easily seen in the huge increase in food prices and the electricity bills they receive every month. The Power for People Coalition has challenged President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to act on his promise made during his most recent State of the Nation Address to remove the systems loss charges from those bills.
Systems loss, or the electrical energy lost as electricity travels from the power generation source through transmission lines and distribution networks before finally reaching consumers, accounts for up to 12 percent of consumers’ power bills. Both the Senate and House of Representatives are actively debating bills like the Systems Loss Charge Removal Act pushed by President Marcos to completely ban utilities from charging consumers for these losses.
Several electric cooperatives (ECs) incur greater systems loss due to poor maintenance and failure to detect illegal power connections, and to defective, old or tampered meters. Then the ECs lose money when the officials pay themselves huge salaries and bonuses.
Recently, an electric cooperative charged the Preda children’s home P125,000 for a failed transformer in Nagbayan village, Castillejos town. This is illegal. It is the responsibility of the EC to replace the transformer free of charge, as mandated by law.
The children’s home could only raise P20,000 and paid the amount under duress to save the children from further distress and fear, as the electric cooperative left them without electricity for three days. The children’s home protested the injustice and suffering inflicted on the children, who endured the unbearable heat and darkness of the countryside during those days. No light or electric fans, no refrigeration or water. As a result, food was spoiled. Officials of the electric cooperative did not seem to care and demanded the children’s home to pay for a new transformer or go without electricity.
The director of the Preda children’s home appealed to the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) for relief and action. Lawyer Leila Grace A. San Pedro of the ERC’s Consumers Affairs Service said her team would take appropriate action to resolve the case, but none was taken as of yet. Article 14 of the Magna Carta for Residential Electricity Consumers says the company supplying electricity is responsible for the “overhead system, poles, lines, and transformers.” In addition, Section 23 of Republic Act 9136, or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 (Epira), places the responsibility of supplying transformers on the EC or power company.
The law demands that the electric cooperative provide the transformer and pay for it, not consumers. Then as now, having electricity is more than a privilege; it is a necessity, like air and water, especially for children. Those at the Preda home are undergoing therapy after suffering abuse and exploitation in their homes and communities, and now are made to suffer anew because of this.
Hundreds of thousands of poor Filipino consumers are feeling similarly distressed by being overcharged by ECs and power companies. They feel powerless to get basic services and low-cost electricity. Consumers need to stop voting for people belonging to influential families that own or allied with such firms and elect those who will secure justice for them and enforce our laws. (To be continued)/PN
