Saturday, May 24, 2008 Roperos: Let there be light By Godofredo M. Roperos Politics Also
OUT of the darkness, there is light. That is the usual biblical presumption of the religious among us.
Light follows darkness, as the sun rises after a dark night.
But in our present predicament, according to Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, the reverse is true for Meralco and other power companies. Darkness follows light, as power technicians mercilessly cut off electric connections to subscribers who are delayed in paying.
The other day, Enrile denounced Meralco, the power distributor in Metro Manila, for its propensity to “disconnect customers unable to pay electric bills within three days of their due date.”
And yet, the senator claims, subscribers are asked to put a two-month deposit before their application for connection is given due course by the power firm. In fact, the Meralco is duty bound to “return roughly two billion that it had collected as billing deposits from the customers.”
It could not be just Meralco. It appears like poor, naïve subscribers have been fleeced by power distributors of charges that would have rightly belonged and should have been absorbed by the power firms. For instance, I learned that meter readers of Cebeco 1, 2 and 3 receive P5 per meter read, as well as administrative cost.
In our Cebu Catholic Television Network program “Clear Cut Tonight” over Channel 47, a caller informed us that the Visayan Electric Co. (Veco) charges even more for meter reading.
There are charges in the collection bill of subscribers that should have been assumed by the power distributor. Systems loss may include administrative expenses which should rightly have been assumed by the entity. Subscribers are often billed twice on cost of distribution.
This happens when the National Power Corp. charges distribution cost to the power-buyer, which in turn passes on the amount to the consumers’ subscribers. And since most consumer-subscribers do not know any better, they just accept the bill and pay, otherwise their connection will be cut off immediately.
This happened to me recently when my connection in Balamban was cut off without a reminder, at a time when I was in the city. When I wanted to pay immediately that same day, the Cebeco office was already closed at 3 p.m.
There should be some compassion, especially at a time when hard times are upon us. It may be inexcusable for the rich and affluent, but the low income poor may need a day or two to raise the amount of the bill. Perhaps, the policy needs re-thinking.
