Wednesday, September 03, 2008 123T Veco users to get P500 each subsidy
THOSE who consumed at most 100 kilowatts of power in May this year will get a P500 electricity subsidy from the Visayan Electric Company (Veco).
The subsidy will be given this month to around 123,852 customers and would be reflected as a separate item on the consumer’s bill.
“If a customer’s bill for September 2008 is less than P500, the balance is treated as advance payment until the amount has been fully exhausted,” Veco’s press statement read.
It added that the giving of the subsidy is their way of complying with the National Government’s “Pantawid Kuryente: Katas ng VAT” program.
It added that the project is designed to help the qualified customers cope with rising costs of fuel and other basic commodities.
A total of P61,926,000 will cover the P500 subsidy; the amount has been released to the Private Electric Plant Owners Association (Pepoa) for distribution to the costumers.
Pepoa is the agency tapped by the Department of Social Welfare and Development to ensure the implementation of the program by private distribution utilities like Veco, the statement added.
The Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC), however, said they find the P500 reduction palliative because it’s only a one-time reduction and fails to address why the country’s power rates are one of the highest in Asia.
Lito Vasquez, FDC secretary general for the Visayas, instead suggested removing the value-added tax coverage on oil and power, reducing systems losses that can be passed to consumers, and reforming the Energy Regulatory Commissioner (ERC).
Vasquez said that the ERC have been remiss on its duty of protecting consumer interests thus it should be depoliticized and be democratized through full consumer representation with at least one seat. (EOB)
