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ANGELES CITY, Pampanga: The acronym AEC may have taken a new
meaning, instead of just Angeles Electric Company. Consumers now say
that AEC now means ‘abetting the economic crisis’ for the
company, that is.
Mang Policarpio, member of Tricycle Drivers and
Operators Association, says his regular net income would be P400 on
lean days, and up to P1000 “on really good but rare days.”
Said income would be barely enough to feed his
wife and two kids in a rented rundown apartment unit in Barangay
Malabanias. With the sudden increase in power charges by the Angeles
Electric Company, or AEC, Policarpio was just way too short,
“What we regularly use was a florescent lamp
and an ordinary bulb, plus an electric fan, and our monthly payment
for electricity was P400, which already was suspicious. This April,
it went up to P800,” Policarpio said. “It would seem that I only
earned a living to be able to pay Angeles Electric Corporation.”
Teacher Linda of Barangay Salapungan bemoans the
“deep cut” the power rates increase has incised in her family
budget.
“Family expenses would be more than usual with
the start of classes. It wouldn’t come as a surprise now that more
students were unable to enroll this time with parents having to deal
with the high cost of electricity,” said the schoolteacher.
‘Anti-poor’
At Sitio Pader in Barangay Balibago, a row
of concrete, tin-roofed shacks has been without electricity for over
a month now. Aling Flora, a resident there, admitted she and her
neighbors have been remiss in the payment of their electric bills,
which led to their electricity getting disconnected.
“We already found it difficult to pay P200
every month. What more now that the rate has more than doubled?”
Flora stressed. “Which is why we settled for candles or gas lamps
instead, even if these were risky.”
Complaints from residents of the upper-middle
class Diamond Subdivision were no different.
An American “old-timer” in Angeles was
complaining. “So I have an air-conditioner, washing machine and
dryer, electric iron, HD television, sounds and the works. I have
long been with these appliances and I was paying like P4,000 to
P5,000 a month. Suddenly I was billed P8,700-plus. Angeles Electric
should have an explanation for this.”
Most complained that the “exorbitant” AEC
power increase even their financial problems.
Local industrialist Ruperto Cruz was among the
first to cry foul over the “arbitrary increase by the AEC of its
power rates.”
With the foreign market as its base, Cruz’s
furniture manufacturing business has been adversely affected by the
global economic crunch for sometime now. Practically out of
operation, the factory was still getting bills as though it were in
full operation.
Other manufacturers shared the complaint of
Cruz, as they were also hardly hit by the economic crisis.
“The AEC should have been more considerate of
its consumers, particularly the manufacturers, to alleviate the
adverse effects of the economic crisis. Instead of helping us, it
[power hike] added to our burden,” a handicraft exporter said.
“Maybe we should change the name of AEC to Abetting the Economic
Crisis which is what it is doing.”
Asking for complete anonymity, a group of
grocery store owners told The Manila Times their mother organization
is contemplating of filing charges in court against AEC.
“There are two cases being considered against
AEC. First, we will question the legality of the power rates
increase that did not pass any public hearing. The second is a
damage suit for the all our losses due to those frequent and
unannounced brown-outs,” said a supermarket owner.
“A battery of local lawyers is currently “in
the thick of paper works preparatory to our decision whether to file
cases or seek redress elsewhere,” he added.
‘Victims’ too
A court case may come as a last resort. So The
Manila Times asked the people interviewed: Have they raised their
concerns with the electric company?
“I’m just an ordinary citizen. Would they
bother listening to me?” Policarpio said.
Teacher Linda did raise the issue with the
billing man of the AEC, saying she almost apologized for bringing up
the issue. “The collector told me that he was a victim as well,
just like I me. He [collector] said, ‘We also pay more for
electricity at home, but there has been no raise in our salaries.’
As it were, it seemed that I was even more fortunate than he was.”
“The newspapers are full of stories about the
complaints against AEC. These are being discussed lengthily on a
daily basis over the local radio stations. The AEC cannot claim
ignorance over the issues,” said dwGV radio anchor Arnel
Panganiban, who himself complained of a marked increase in his
electric bills.
Calls by The Manila Times to the AEC offices,
particularly its customer service manager Myra Rivera, have proven
futile since Tuesday.
It was Rivera who had claimed in a statement to
media on May 12 that AEC was “a victim too.”
Victims of what, the consumers wanted to know.
-- Joey Aguilar
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