Senator Sherwin Gatchalian has proposed an additional government subsidy of P1 per kilowatt hour (kwh) for low-income consumers or a total of P418 million to be sourced from the general appropriations fund to cushion the impact of rising commodity prices.
With the effectivity of the Lifeline Rate Extension Act authored mainly by Gatchalian, the state subsidy in Metro Manila saved an average of P194.36 in February 2022, and P223.34 in February this year, an increase of 14.91 percent due to high inflation rates.
Gatchalian said savings incurred by beneficiaries last month would have afforded them to buy 5.6 kilos of rice based on the average retail price of regular-milled cereal costing of P39.195 per kilo based on data from the Philippine Statistics Authority.
Gatchalian said the additional P1 per kwh subsidy from the government, if approve, can save lifeline consumers an average of P296.67 per month equivalent to about 7.5 kilos of rice.
The senator said the Lifeline Rate law help many Filipino consumers, but “we can help them more if we have help them save and use this savings to pay for other necessities amid the high inflation rate in our country.”
The lifeline rate subsidy has provided relief for 4.181 million households identified as beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program across the country.
Beneficiaries need to consume not more than 100 kwh of electricity per month to avail themselves of the subsidy.
Of the total number of beneficiaries, 209,210 households are in the National Capital Region.
The subsidy is provided under Republic Act 11552, or an Act Extending and Enhancing the Implementation of the Lifeline Rate, amending for the purpose Section 73 of RA 9136, or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001.
Meanwhile, the country’s inflation rate in February 2023 slightly eased to 8.6 percent from 8.7 percent in January but is still the highest in Southeast Asia.
Energy remained one of the top contributors to inflation, accounting for 1.0 percentage point.
Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla said “the lifeline rate program in the Philippines is one of the best-designed lifeline rate programs in the world; ours is better targeted.”
The Department of Energy was tasked to formulate and promulgate the policy guidelines of RA 11552, ensuring the law and its IRR are lawfully implemented.
This is consistent with the Marcos administration’s steadfast commitment to seeing to it that the benefits of the government’s energy policies and programs are felt by the poorest of the poor.
An amendment made on Section 73 of the EPIRA (RA No. 10150) revamps the 20-year coverage subsidy provision to electricity consumers, giving the subsidy an extended timeline of additional 30 years.
This means that those from the marginalized sector who consume electricity will continue to enjoy government subsidies in their electricity bill for 30 more years after the first 20 years in the original RA is up.