THE administration is expected to work double time in an effort to recover from the rapidly waning public trust and approval rating that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has been getting in the last 12 months.
To begin with, Marcos heeded to the call for the government to act on the “excessively high electricity rate.”
In his fifth State of the Nation Address (SONA), Marcos asked the Philippine Congress to spare households from shouldering the costs stemming from inefficiencies in the power distribution system by coming up with a legislative measure that would effectively scrap electricity system loss charges passed on to consumers.
“Kung pagbawas ng presyo ang usapan, sa aking palagay panahon na para tanggalin na natin ang system loss na pinapasa sa consumer. Pinapasa ito sa consumer at kinakarga sa bill na pinapatungan pa ng value-added tax. Hindi naman kasalanan ng consumer kung bakit nagkaroon ng system loss. Kaya hindi naman tama na kailangan sila pa ang pagbabayarin dito,” Marcos said.
The President also asked Congress to amend Republic Act 9136, otherwise known as the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA), which allowed distribution utilities to charge a portion of systems loss from consumers through a systems loss charge reflected in monthly electricity bills.
“Therefore, we, the people, request – no, we demand for the immediate amendment of the EPIRA, and to prohibit charging system loss against consumers including the value-added tax thereon.”
System loss is driven by technical inefficiencies and electricity theft.
The President also gave a premium on the need to help the consumers shift to renewable energy via what he referred to as “Sariling Kuryente Act.”
He particularly hinted at the need to streamline process and permit requirements for adopting solar energy — “To make the installation of solar panels and battery storage systems in homes simpler, easier, and more affordable, I am asking Congress to pass the ‘Sariling Kuryente’ Act,” averred.