A LEGISLATOR from the Bicol Region on Saturday asked local officials to help in the listing of marginalized power consumers for the Lifeline Rate Program.
Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte was referring to the new subsidy project for electricity users that offers hefty discounts on the electricity bills of households consuming 100 kilowatt hours (kWh) or fewer every month.
This program for electricity users, whose implementation was put off from last year because of the low turnout of consumers availing of this monthly subsidy, will kick off this month. As of mid December 2023, only 191,399 enrolledin the program.
Villafuerte said these registrants make up only about 4.55 percent of the government-projected 4.2 million beneficiary-households listed as the “poorest of the poor” families under the social welfare department’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) who receive conditional cash transfer (CCT) assistance on a regular basis.
“Local executives, most especially those in far-flung communities, apparently need to do some heavy lifting in helping ordinary electricity consumers become aware of, and sign up for, this Lifeline Rate program whose lofty goal is for households consuming 100 kWh per month or less to enjoy a big decrease in their monthly electricity bills,” Villafuerte, a former CamSur governor, said. “The trio of agencies implementing this power subsidy program—Departments of Energy (DOE) and of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), and the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC)—should also consider the possibility of raising the threshold for target beneficiaries so a lot more marginalized electricity consumers could avail of this Lifeline Rate program,” he added.
He said, “Against the backdrop of elevated inflation plus government expectations of continued commodity price spikes at the onset of 2024, lower monthly power bills certainly spell financial relief for poor and low-income Filipino families,”
He said the DOE, DSWD and ERC need to exert effort, and with the assistance of local officials to effectively implement the Lifeline Rate Program.
