Power consumers trooped to Mendiola on Friday to deliver their wish as President Marcos Jr. celebrates his 68th birthday: for the administration to address soaring electricity prices, a trend that worsened throughout the first half of the president’s term.
In a recent interview, President Marcos Jr. shared that his birthday wish is for “every Filipino’s life be good,” and that he dreams for there to be “no more hungry Filipinos.”
“Part of what will secure a good life for Filipinos is reliable, affordable, and clean energy. Yet three years into his term, all the President has to show for this are higher electricity prices driving consumers to hunger and worse poverty,” said Gerry Arances, Convenor of the Power for People Coalition (P4P).
According to the groups, energy policy directions pursued by the Marcos administration ran contrary to the President’s 2022 promise of lowering energy costs to strengthen the purchasing power of Filipino families.
“The only thing that’s cheap these days is talk without action, and the President has done just that. Since his taking up office, electricity rates in the Meralco franchise area have risen by about Php 600 a month for a family consuming 200 kWh. But this is not surprising with an administration that insisted on coal and gas, whose fuel prices have soared in the last five years; railroaded the new franchise of an energy giant, Meralco, despite it being on the receiving end of an abundance of consumer complaints; and turned a blind eye on anti-consumer contracts and power sector abuses,” Arances said.
High electricity costs must be met with the same degree of accountability-seeking and scrutiny from the government as flood control projects are facing today, the groups said.
“It’s now clear that the floods we suffer year in and out are not just due to heavy rains and the climate crisis, but from massive corruption. It’s good that this is finally in the spotlight – but all this investigation will end up as just some spectacle unless culprits are penalized and the attack against corruption and collusion is extended to other problematic sectors – including the lucrative power industry,” said Rovik Obanil, Secretary General of the Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC).
P4P threw the birthday ‘bash’ protest just days after its members sought action by the Court of Appeals over the approval of the Energy Regulatory Commission’s (ERC) of a contract between Meralco and its co-owned 1,200 MW Excellent Energy Resources, Inc. (EERI) gas plant, whose terms feature a risk of consumers being charged 932,650,000 pesos doubly from the costs of a point-to-point transmission asset.
“Because of how our energy sector is governed, consumers are at the mercy of power oligarchs whose primary interest is to profit, not serve the public. Through privatization, the government increasingly rendered itself powerless in protecting consumers from abuses, or are right beside them in promoting anti-consumer practices. This has to come to an end. Anomalies like those we are seeing with the ERC should not be taken lightly,” said Obanil.
