This was how Pelco 2-Nay, a group of electric consumers in this city, described the fate of the thousands of consumers of the Pampanga Electric Cooperative II (Pelco II) as a result of the takeover of the management and operation of the cooperative by the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) and its Angeles City-based partner ComsTech in 2014.
“Consumers have reported soaring electric bills, at times three times more than their bills before the takeover of the cooperative by the joint private venture,” said the group in a statement.
“We had hoped for a better service as a result of the takeover. What we got is the same poor service, aggravated by oppressive, merciless, and incomprehensible increase in our bills,” the Pelco 2-Nay lamented.
Apart from this city with a population of about 300,000, Pelco II also distributes power to the towns of Guagua, Bacolor, Sta. Rita, Lubao, and Porac.
The group said that on top of their ballooning bills, the current Pelco II management “has not done anything to improve the system of serving billings or “statements of account.”
“The bills come in narrow, white papers similar to receipts issued by tellers in supermarkets and are inserted anywhere in front of the residences, totally without any effort on the part of the server to alert the consumer about them,” it noted.
“The billing receipts are thus readily washed away by slight drizzle or any air movement or other circumstances of movement. Since most consumers are rarely aware of when their Pelco II bills arrive, they could end up being penalized for not paying on time,” the group also said.
Pelco 2-Nay said overdue payments are charged about P50 more. Failure to pay within 48 hours after due date would lead to disconnection which would earn the management more, because the “delinquent” consumer would have to fork out more cash for reconnection.
“One is inevitably led to suspect this way of serving bills was contrived precisely for monetary motive,” the group said.
Pelco II’s bills or statement of account list the following for the total bill: generation charges, transmission charges, systems loss charges, distribution charges, supply charges, metering charges, other charges, subsidies/discount charges, value added tax, and universal charges.
“Consumers have compared their current bills with relatives and friends in other areas served by either private power firms or cooperatives in Pampanga. They have all observed their bills much higher despite having almost the same appliances and household population,” the group noted.
In 2014, Meralco and ComsTech took over the management and operation of Pelco II which supplies electricity to this city and five towns.
“We are pumping some P1.2 billion for the takeover of Pelco II whose debt amounts to as much,” said Dennis Uy, president and chief executive officer of Angeles City-based ComsTech.
He said Meralco chairman Manny Pangilinan considered the Pelco II takeover as part of his legacy to his fellow Kapampangans.
With an offer of P1.2 billion, Meralco and ComsTech won the bidding for the investment and management contract of Pelco II as authorized by the National Electrification Administration (NEA). The contract would last 20 years, Uy said.
“Pelco II will still own the cooperative, but Meralco and ComsTech will manage and operate it under the investment and management contract,” Uy said.
The contract also provided that Meralco and ComsTech will assume responsibility for the electric cooperative’s liabilities that reached billions, he added.
“From the frying pan, Pelco II consumers have been thrown into the pits of Purgatory, awaiting deliverance,” the statement said.
“Are we now at the mercy of the Salim Group of Indonesia?” it asked.
Telecommunications magnate Manuel V. Pangilinan, also known as MVP, took over Meralco in 2010 as its president and chief executive officer.
Pangilinan also chairs Metro Pacific Investments Corp. the Philippine flagship of Hong Kong-based conglomerate First Pacific Co., and PLDT unit Pilipino Telephone Corp. The three companies together effectively own more than 40 percent of Meralco through Beacon Electric Asset Holdings.
The so-called MVP Group is believed to be the front of Indonesian Salim conglomerate of Indonesian billionaire Anthoni Salim.
