Anakpawis solon hits P2.1B electric subsidy for SEZs

Manila, Philippines – Anakpawis Party-list Representative Ariel “Ka Ayik” Casilao expressed outrage over the P2.1 billion electric subsidy as proposed by the Department of Trade and Industry in the 2018 national budget and claimed that it is outright anti-people, undemocratic and anti-Filipino.

“While Filipino workers, farmers and urban poor suffer ceaseless rate hikes on utilities and oil products, these foreign corporations are swimming on taxpayers’ money through subsidies on operational costs they are supposedly shouldering, this is an outright insult to the aptitude of the Filipino people

and puppetry to foreign monopoly,” Casilao said in a statement.

Casilao said that poor sectors and ordinary consumers have been hurting on rate hikes of utilities and petroleum products. From January 2017, prices hikes upsets the rollback on oil products by about P1 on (hike-rollback on gas at P6.60-P5.59, on diesel P7.20-6.50). While water concessionaires Maynilad and Manila Water plan to hike rates next year from P9.69 to P34.51 and P8.30 to P24.80 per cubic meter, respectively.

On electricity, Meralco will add P0.13 per kilowatt-hour this August billing, for consuming more than 200-kwh with P26, 300-kwh with P39, 400kwh with P52 and 500-kwh with P65. This is on top of the rate hike on power distribution last May and July of P0.15 and P0.08 per kwh, respectively.

“While the economic managers blabbered about the free higher education being with no budget, but they had the gall to allot some for foreign oligarchs already plundering on the Filipino cheap labor,” Casilao added.

The lawmaker joined the call of Makabayan Coalition to divert the said subsidy budget, urgently for free higher education, free public health services, subsidy to agricultural production and for a long-term free land distribution program for poor farmers.