MABALACAT CITY- From bad to worse, from dumb to dumber.
The Pampanga Electric Cooperative 2 (Pelco 2) serving this city and five other towns in this province has been criticized as becoming more anti-consumer. In many areas, it has pooled electric meters on common posts beyond the easy monitoring of consumers.
Its personnel slip electric bills, which look like digital receipts from department stores, into any part of the fence totally without effort to call the attention of consumers. It has also failed to provide consumers with any telephone number to reach for emergencies, but has offered tips on how to keep safe during earthquakes.
A newly formed group called Pelco 2-Nay, composed of the cooperative’s consumers, has noted these in the hope they would reach the attention of Pelco 2’s new management. “The bills which are readily washed into canals by slight rain or blown away by mild wind forebodingly warn of additional charge if the bill is not paid immediately,” Pelco 2-Nay said in a statement.
“The warning comes in fine print in a bill statement issued in a manner that leaves much room for getting lost in the elements before consumers find them. It is totally dishonest and manipulative,” the statement also noted.
This, amid a new “one-month disconnection policy” announced recently by Pelco 2 which provided that such disconnection would be implemented should the consumer fail to pay his bill within nine days after receiving the statement of account.
“Presumably, the count starts on the day the collector slips the bill into any part of the consumer’s fence, regardless of whether it gets into the hands of the supposed payer. This is plain dumbness,” Pelco 2-Nay noted. The group also said that consumers have always been at a loss on what phone number to dial for emergencies.
It cited the case of a resident of Barangay Lakandula here who recently complained that her entire house seemed grounded. “The resident had to knock on her neighbors doors asking whether anyone knew Pelco 2’s number, but no one did. The problem was solved by a neighborhood electrician,” it said.
No emergency number is found even in the receipt, nor any such number is displayed for the paying consumers to take note of at the Pelco 2 office in Dau, Pelco 2-Nay said. “Instead, what you see at the Pelco 2 office is a poster on how to keep yourself safe during earthquakes,” it added.
Apart from this city, Pelco 2 also provides power to the towns of Guagua, Bacolor, Sta. Rita, Lubao, and Porac. A survey conducted among its consumers indicated widespread dissatisfaction with Pelco 2 electric service, amid allegations of questionable bills.
Last July, the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) and the local firm ConsTech took over the management and operations of Pelco 2. “What we intend to do is adopt a system to make sure that those who read electric meters really do, and do so without merely guessing a household’s electric consumption,” said ComsTech executive Dennis Uy soon after the takeover.
Uy said that scores of Pelco 2 old-time personnel could not retire because the cooperative does not have funds for their retirement pay. He also noted that Pelco 2’s workforce is bloated with 500 personnel, despite estimates it would work efficiently with only 150.
“All those who will have to go should, however, be given the proper benefits,” he added.
