|
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
Militant group join call for Peco reduce rate
MILITANT Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan)-Panay led a picket Tuesday in front of Panay Electric Company's (Peco) office in Gen. Luna St. to demand the immediate implementation of P2 rate reduction mandated by Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).
"Peco immediately cuts off power once a consumer fails to pay, but now that they have an obligation to the consumers, they are doing everything to avoid it," said Bayan-Panay spokesperson Boy Bosque in a statement.
Bosque also lambasted the government's futility in heeding the Ilonggos' demands. "The privatization program of the Arroyo regime encourages the power firms to impose rate hikes irregardless such increases are justifiable or not."
The picket also coincides with the start of the implementation of National Power Corp.'s (Napocor) rate hike by 5.56 centavos.
The recently approved Napocor increase is in addition to the 98 centavos per kWh increase the ERC provisionally approved last September. This would mean a total of P1.04 increase per kWh.
"At these difficult times, the effects of the rate hike on the economy would be enormous. Poor and middle-income residents consuming an average of 51 to 300 kilowatts per month would be the most severely affected. This is another burden for the people. This another power rate increase is anomalous, immoral and unjustified," Bosque added.
Aside from the P2 reduction of Peco rate, the group also demands the scrapping of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira).
"This law stands to destroy what is left of the local economy by allowing foreign energy grants to take over the Napocor. It will deregulate the distribution and supply sectors and eventually privatize the transmission sector. We have already learned our lessons from deregulating the oil industry. We will not let this happen again to the power industry," Bosque added.
(April 27, 2005 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board.Click here. |
|
[return to top]
[home]
[network page]
|
LOCAL NEWS
BUSINESS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFESTYLE
FEATURE
|
