Govt must ensure poor consumers directly benefit from electricity lifeline rate subsidy–gatchalian

THE Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), the Department of Energy (DOE), and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) are closely working together to make sure that marginalized consumers are the actual beneficiaries of the electricity lifeline rate subsidy.

The ERC, DOE, and DSWD recently approved the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (R A) No. 11552 or the Act Extending and Enhancing the Implementation of the Lifeline Rate until 2050.

The measure, which was signed into law in May 2021, essentially extended the lifeline rate allowing the country’s marginalized electricity consumers to avail of and benefit from the lifeline rate for a much longer time.

On Monday, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian called on the government to ensure that targeted beneficiaries are those who will actually benefit from the subsidy.

The ongoing review of the list of the government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) bodes well with the implementation of the law, particularly in the determination of beneficiaries of the government subsidy, the senator pointed out.

“Ang panawagan ko lang sa gobyerno ay tiyakin na ang dapat makinabang sa subsidiyang ito ay ang mga tunay na benepisyaryo o ’yung mga pinakamahihirap nating kababayan. Inaasahan na ang patuloy nating pagbibigay ng subsidiya ay magbibigay sa kanila ng kaluwagan sa gitna ng mataas na presyo ng mga pangunahing bilihin at iba pang buwanang bayarin sa bahay,” Gatchalian said.

Under the law, qualified marginalized end-users include 4Ps beneficiaries and those who have been certified and continually validated as such by their power distribution utility based on the criteria determined by the ERC.

Gatchalian, who serves as vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy, emphasized that the extension of the provision of government subsidy for marginalized electricity consumers is more meaningful given the economic uncertainties brought by a succession of crises that include the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-ukraine conf lict.

The ERC, in an earlier statement, said it would craft a new criterion to help it determine the extent of subsidy for marginalized users.

DOE Secretary Raphael Lotilla said the lifeline rate program in the country is one of the best-designed lifeline rate programs in the world. “Ours is better targeted,” he said.