P200-B sobrang singil ng Meralco sa 7.7-M customers i-refund

HINILING ni Lone District Sta. Rosa, Laguna Representatives Dan Fernandez sa Manila Electric Company (Meralco) na i-refund ang sobrang singil na P200 bilyon mula sa 7.7 milyong subscribers nito.

Ayon kay Fernandez, nagsimula ang sobra-sobrang singil ng Meralco noon pang 2012.

Magugunitang naunang hiniling ni Fernandez sa Kongreso na hatiin sa tatlo ang mega franchise ng Meralco na ipinagkaloob dito upang higit na makapagbigay ng maayos na serbisyo sa publiko.

“Based on our computation, (Meralco) has overcharged its customers by some P 160 billion starting 2012. Plus interests, this could add to P 200 billion, due to overcharging and extremely high weighted average cost of capital, which amounted to 14.97 percent, and remains unchanged up to now,” ani Fernandez sa pagdinig ng House Committee on Legislative Franchise.

Batay sa computation ni Fernandez, lumalabas na dapat ibalik ng Meralco sa bawat customer nito ang halagang P26K hanggang P30K mula sa sobra-sobrang singil na kanilang ginawa.

Ibinunyag ni Fernandez, nagawa ito ng Meralco dahil sa monopolyo at monopsony sa industriya.

“Meralco is the one controlling the prices of electricity because it is the biggest seller and biggest buyer (of electricity in the country),” dagdag ini Fernandez.

Tinukoy ni Fernandez na naging super franchise ang Mercalo dahil sa Republic Act 9209 na nagpapahintulot sa kanila na mag-construct, mag-operate at magpanatili ng distribution system para magbigay o mag-suplay ng koryente sa Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Rizal at ilang munisipalidad at barangay sa probinsiya ng Batangas, Laguna, Quezon at Pampanga.

Muling pinanawagan ni Fernandez sa Kongreso na hatiin sa tatlo ang prangkisa ng Meralco.

“Meralco billing rates remain unchanged, and is still provisional since July 2011 to present. The rate reset since 2011 is not yet completed, the error in calculation of the third regulatory period from 2011 to 2015 is not yet fully corrected and this error was carried to 2016 up to the present,” paghayag ni Fernandez sa komite.

Tinukoy ni Fernandez na ang provisional rate ng Meralco ay 20 porsiyento na sumobra para sa kanilang estimated recovery na naging dahilan ng kanilang over-collection o overcharging na sa huli ay sobra-sobrang singil.

Tinukoy ni Fernandez na maging si Meralco spokesperson Joe Zaldarriaga ay inamin sa interviews at news articles na inutusan sila ng Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) na magsagawa ng refund ng P48 bilyon sa kanilang customers sa pamamagitan ng pagbabawas sa mga bayarin kada buwan.

               “Prudence dictates that if there is an order of refund, there must be overcharging. And indeed, there was as I kept saying, and fighting since 2019. They keep saying that it was not their fault that our refunds are being done through monthly deductions through our electrical bills, as it was stated by the ERC as the policy maker. The certificate of completion of that refund, of P48 billion, I believe, has not been issued and the remaining balance of the expected refund, of P112 billion, is still being validated by the ERC,” dagdag ni Fernandez.

Naniniwala si Fernandez, kung mahahati sa tatlo ang kasalukuyang prangkisa ng Meralco ay tiyak na totoo at tamang singil sa koryente ang sisingilin sa mga customers. (HATAW News Team)