CONGRESS, ERC SHOULD STOP “BABYING” MERALCO

IT HAS been two months now since residential customers of the Milagro, err, Manila Electric Company (Meralco), received their atrocious consumption billings.

In that period, several hearings on the issue had already been conducted by both chambers of Congress, with the participation of Meralco officials, consumer groups and the power sector’s regulator, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).

But other than extracting an “apology” for the “confusion” – and fear—that their billing for May (that include the “estimated” consumption during the lockdown months from February to April) and June (when Meralco purportedly actually “read” the consumers’ consumption), the hearings actually produced nothing of substance to the suffering public.

For what actually resulted from those hearings is the opportunity for Meralco to propagandize—successfully it would appear—its original position that yes, Jose, consumers really used the electricity being billed to them.

And never mind that in some instances, houses are empty of people because they have been stranded somewhere when the Luzon-wide lockdown was imposed by the government.

Aside from Meralco’s apology, all that the consumers “gained” from those hearings is Meralco’s agreeing to Congress and the ERC’s proposal to allow its customers to pay their questionable bills, “ala Bumbay” or in installment, until the end of September. And again, never mind if their  customers continue to consider themselves as scam or robbery victims.

For the consumer groups like Bayan Muna and the Matuwid na Singil sa Kuryente (MSK), which have been watching Meralco’s every move over the years and the accommodating manner these are being treated by Congress and the ERC, they can only arrive at one conclusion: those hearings are simply, a farce.

Other groups too are aghast—and insulted—that our lawmakers and the ERC have been giving Meralco a pass over the years despite the clear violations of its franchise resulting to excessive billings to its customers.

In the controversial billings that we discussed, both chambers of Congress and the ERC are collectively silent on Meralco’s possible infraction of the Civil Code, particularly, Sections 19 to Section 21. None among them had even suggested of hauling Meralco to court for civil damages. Ditto, none of them took seriously MSK’s compelling conclusion that the reason why the bills of residential customers ballooned during the lockdown period is that, Meralco “passed on” to them the unused consumption of their commercial/industrial customers—at three times the cost.

The worst “sin”—or crime—of course should rest on the shoulder of the ERC and its present chair, Atty. Agnes Devanadera.

She has been in that very important post for some two years now and yet, she seems to still have no real idea on how to go about protecting us, the consumers, from the rapacious attacks of the oligarchs who continue to fatten themselves thru their control of our entire energy industry.

Unless our Congress and the ERC start getting serious in really serving the public interest—by stopping from continuously “babying” Meralco, we can expect no help from these quarters.