Christmas Lighting Project City Hall wants exemption from electricity bills

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu City government has requested the Visayan Electric Company to grant the city exemption from paying the electricity that will be consumed by the city’s decoration and Christmas Lighting Project.

In a letter addressed to Dennis Garcia, Chief executive officer of the VECO-SM Cebu City branch, City Administrator Jose Marie Poblete promised that the amount of the bill that will be granted to the city for free will be spent on public service to its constituents.

The Christmas Lighting Project, which was launched recently, seeks to light up the streets, mostly in the downtown area, to bring the spirit of Christmas in the city.

Each department or offices at the City Hall will be adopting one street that they will light and decorate to win awards and cash prizes.

“Christmas season has finally come and it’s a spirit lifting for every Cebuano to see the streets in the city full of Christmas Lights. They may not be gifted with lots of foods and material things during this holiday season but making the environment or the entire city sparkling with colorful lights and decorations would somehow allow them to feel the spirit of Christmas,” Poblete said in her letter.

The city administrator said they are hoping for a favorable response from VECO as the city government would like to continue its private-public partnership with the power firm for the city’s development.

The city pays more or less P10 million a month for electricity consumption in all its operations. (FREEMAN)