Mas mahabang TRO vs Meralco hike isinusulong ng Bayan

MANILA, Philippines – Hiniling ng militanteng grupong Bayan sa Korte Suprema na palawigin pa ang temporary restraining order laban sa pagtataas singil ng pinakamalaking power distributor Manila Electric Co. (Meralco).

Inapela ng Bayan ngayong Martes ang pagpapalawig sa pagpigil ng pagtataas ng singil dahil hanggang Pebrero 23 na lamang ang epekto ng TRO.

“With everything that is coming out, with allegations of market abuse and manipulation in the spot market, it would be grossly unfair for the consumers if Meralco would be allowed to push through with the rate hike as the TRO is set to expire this month,” wika ni Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr.

"We hope that the TRO will be extended indefinitely as we await the final ruling of the court, which we believe should be in favor of the consumers and not the giant power monopolies. Protests will definitely continue as the SC hears the petitions,” dagdag ni Reyes.

Inulit din ng Bayan ang kanilang panawagan sa Meralco na ipakita sa publiko ang kanilang kinita bago lumabas ang TRO at kung saan ito ginagamit.

“Many customers have already suffered injury since Meralco has collected the first tranche of the rate hike last December. How much were the total collections and what is Meralco doing with the funds? Have these been paid out to the generators? Are the funds earning interest somewhere?” tanong ni Reyes.

Sinisisi ng grupo ang gobyerno sa pagpasan ng mga consumer ng bayarin ng Meralco dahil sa privatized at deregulated generation sector.

 â€œThe automatic pass-on policy should be scrapped as this is oppressive and unjust. Meralco has abandoned its mandate of buying power at the less cost because of the automatic pass-on privilege. It gets power at the highest price then passes the cost to consumers. It can bid as much as P62 in the spot market without fear of any consequences because it will merely pass on the cost to the end-users,” sabi ni Reyes.

“All this is possible because we have a privatized and deregulated generation sector. Government has abandoned its role of securing the people’s energy needs at the lowest cost possible. Everything now is left to the discretion and profit motives of big business.”