An island town in Albay is now without electricity after hundreds of customers from the town failed to settle their debt to Albay Power and Energy Corporation (APEC) worth Php 32 million.
The debt of over 1,000 customers of APEC in the island ballooned to Php32 million since 2014.
APEC said the company would not have resorted to disconnecting the power for the town if the residents were able to settle less than half of the debt or Php15 million but the company has so far collected only Php3 million, accounting for only 2 percent of the amount consumers owe APEC.
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According to Rapu-Rapu Mayor Boy Galicia, the electric company doesn’t have a branch on the island which’s why residents are having a hard time settling their bills.
“Wala kasi silang opisina dito ang APEC kaya nahirapan magbayad. May payment outlet naman sila dito kaya lang may service charge. May pumupunta naman sila ditong collector pero once or thrice a year lang,” Galicia explained.
He pointed out that it’s unfair to cut off the electric supply of the whole town since there are member-consumers regularly paying their bills.
Meanwhile, APEC said it has already provided ample consideration and opportunity for customers to fully settle their obligations and to avert the power shutdown.
The streetlights in the downtown area of the island municipality are currently powered by generator sets, according to Galicia.
Consumer advocate Virgilio Perdigon said the move to shut off power in Rapu-rapu may have violated the Magna Carta for Residential Electricity Consumers, a provision under Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) and the regulatory powers of the National Electrification Administration.
“Let us see if it has the balls to violate the Magna Carta for Residential Electricity Consumers and insist on its purported commercial prerogative which has no legal footing whatsoever,” he wrote. (RA)
