Philippine News:
Meralco announces refund scheme for consumers
By Zen Hernandez, ABS-CBN News
Posted at 12/26/2013 4:50 PM | Updated as of 12/26/2013 8:42 PM
MANILA (UPDATED) – Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) assured its customers Thursday that it will comply with the Supreme Court (SC) order to stop the implementation of the initial power rate hike for December and refund those who were already billed and paid based on the new rates.
From P5.67 per kilowatt hour (kWh), Meralco increased generation charges by P2 for December to reflect the initial tranche of the P4.15 total rate hike.
Those who received their electricity bills from December 23 onwards may pay their bills without any problem.
Meralco said it made adjustments immediately after the SC issued the temporary restraining order (TRO) on Monday, and reverted the generation charge to P5.67.
Those who were billed before December 23, however, may have a different situation since their bill still reflects the increase.
Meralco will send a notice to those who have yet to pay and provide them with options.
One option is to simply settle the bill and avail of a refund in future bills.
Another option is to pay the same amount as the November billing provided that consumption in November and December are the same.
Those who got their bills before December 23 and have already paid will be given refunds, but only after the Supreme Court has made a final decision on the case.
Meralco said 70 percent of its more than 5 million customers got their bills before the Supreme Court issued the TRO.
“The adjustments will be made in accordance with the final SC decision,” said Meralco spokesperson Joe Zaldarriaga.
Some customers who settled their bills early now feel that they're on the losing end.
"Sana kung magre-refund sila, sana ay ASAP naman para makatulong, lalo na ngayon maraming hinaharap na gastusan," said one customer.
The group Bayan, meanwhile, said the Supreme Court should speed up the resolution of the petitions against the power rate hike.
This involves electricity and money. This is about problems with money in a society where people have unequal amount of money in their possession
The people who has less money has difficulty in paying their electricity bills.
But before we talk about that, let's look at the things we fail to look at. We are busy working our ass off trying to survive in this world. The electric bills are going up. Other bills on top of other bills. Bills are increasing while our pay remains the same. So we project our anger to people who give the go signal for a rate hike.
We forgot that the only difference between us and this person who is giving this decision, is that he/she has more money than us. We project our anger and frustration to these people.
Is the unequal monetary system created by the elite?
In a way yes, but in a way we also accepted and allowed this. We did not assist in creating a world that gives dignified life for all where all can get the basic necessities to survive - where all has money to pay their food bills, electricity bills, water bills, school bills etc. We gave up on that and just focused on our own survival.
We work for our own individual survival.
We compete to be able to win - to survive.
This is what happens when survival is not guaranteed.
Our lives become a struggle to survive. Then we die.
We forget to live.
We forget the gifts nature give us all and forget to ask this one simple question:
Where does electricity come from?
There are many ways to generate electricity, and one is, Hydropower.
Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy, accounting for 16 percent of global electricity generation – 3,427 terawatt-hours of electricity production in 2010,[1] and is expected to increase about 3.1% each year for the next 25 years.
Most hydroelectric power comes from the potential energy of dammed water driving a water turbine and generator. The power extracted from the water depends on the volume and on the difference in height between the source and the water's outflow.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydro-electric_power
So, hydroelectric power uses water.
Water is a natural resource that is given to all of us here.
The corporations that derive profit from these resources have to give back to the people by making it possible for the people to benefit from the money coming from the sale of electricity which uses water that belongs to the earth.
The earth is giving these resources to us all equally.
We have to share our profits from these resources to all.
So, being the president of the Philippines, i will make this my platform - assisting in creating a world that gives dignified life for all - and in my speeches i will speak about this and urge everyone to support this.
I will propose to give those qualified, a Basic Income, Guaranteed from birth till death and propose that the funds be taken from the corporations who are making profit from these natural resources.
This way, both the poor people and the corporations profit. This is in fact a win - win proposition.
The people can pay their electricity bills if they are given a Living Income, Guaranteed and the corporations will get the money to operate their business effectively.
We can then start aligning our living to natural living and transition to a balanced ecosystem - of money.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydro-electric_power
So, hydroelectric power uses water.
Water is a natural resource that is given to all of us here.
The corporations that derive profit from these resources have to give back to the people by making it possible for the people to benefit from the money coming from the sale of electricity which uses water that belongs to the earth.
The earth is giving these resources to us all equally.
We have to share our profits from these resources to all.
So, being the president of the Philippines, i will make this my platform - assisting in creating a world that gives dignified life for all - and in my speeches i will speak about this and urge everyone to support this.
I will propose to give those qualified, a Basic Income, Guaranteed from birth till death and propose that the funds be taken from the corporations who are making profit from these natural resources.
This way, both the poor people and the corporations profit. This is in fact a win - win proposition.
The people can pay their electricity bills if they are given a Living Income, Guaranteed and the corporations will get the money to operate their business effectively.
We can then start aligning our living to natural living and transition to a balanced ecosystem - of money.