The Department of Energy (DOE) said the registration of households under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) qualified to avail of the electricity lifeline rate remains low.
Luningning Baltazar, director of the Electric Power Industry Management Bureau, said that only 191,399 have sought the lifeline of the 4.2 million 4Ps members who qualify.
There is no deadline for registration and 4Ps members can register anytime at the office of their distribution utilities but starting this month, only those registered can avail of discounted electricity bills as long as they are within the threshold approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission, Baltazar said.
The DOE said among the challenges cited by customers in registering for the program include the absence of individual meters.
This is problematic because some areas in the Visayas the ERC approved threshold is only 25 kilowatt hours (kWh) or way below the average monthly residential consumption of 200 kWh.
“We still encourage them to register since the appropriate thresholds are being studied. Other 4Ps are also located in far flung areas which are hard to reach and are unaware of the program. The conduct of caravans will continue to inform them. For DUs, they are encouraged to conduct on-the-spot registration during lifeline caravans,” Baltazar said.
The DOE also acknowledged seeking help for ways to boost lifeline registration.
For instance, lifeline end-users within the Manila Electric Co. franchise area with zero to 20 kWh monthly consumption are granted a full discount on the generation charge, including system loss, transmission and distribution component of the bill except for the fixed metering charge of P5, which means the beneficiaries pay only P20 more or less P20 in their electricity bills, it was noted.
Other marginalized applicants who are not 4Ps beneficiaries but from households of at least five members with combined monthly income of P12,030 are required to submit certification from the local social welfare development office showing their family income at the time of application, a duly accomplished form, most recent electricity bill and any government-issued ID containing the signature and address of the consumer to avail the program.
The DOE stressed the monthly income threshold may vary for each DU franchise area as may be determined by the Philippine Statistics Authority.
