President Rodrigo Duterte approved the proposal of the Department of Energy to prevent any power disconnection for low-income Filipinos with very minimal energy consumption, called “lifeliners,” said Malacañang on Thursday, February 4.

“The Department of Energy recommended to the President that this ‘no disconnection’ policy for lifeliners be continued… And the President readily agreed,” said Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles in a virtual press briefing.

The discussion on the disconnection policy happened during a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday. 

The DOE had reported that it was “very doable” to exempt lifeliners from automatic disconnection until February given that they account for only 3% of electricity sales even if they comprise 32% of the customer base.

Lifeliners are consumers with little or no income who consume only 100 kilowatt hours or less, said Nograles.

The “no disconnection” policy had only been in place until January 31 but the “poorest of the poor” are expected to get a breather with Duterte’s decision, said the Cabinet official.

Manila Electric Company (Meralco), the Philippines’ biggest power distributor, allowed consumers to settle their electricity bills by end of January before disconnection.

This was an extension of deadlines previously set in December 2020, and before that, in September.

Apart from the short-term fix for low-income Filipinos, Duterte also backed the DOE suggestion for Malacañang to ask Congress to extend lifeliners’ low electricity rates, a perk set to expire in July this year. 

The DOE wants an amendment of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act or EPIRA that would allow the lifeline rate, or special low electricity rates for marginalized consumers, to be in effect for another 30 years or until 2051.

Nograles cited the ongoing pandemic as the rationale for such a move.

“Another 30 years because of this pandemic and because of the computations of the DOE that it won’t be be heavy for our distribution facilities, it’s very doable,” he said in Filipino. – Rappler.com