Netizens joke about high electricity bill

IN A VIDEO, netizen Hazel C. Lachica joked about her latest Meralco bill through “bill reveal.” The neighbors gather one afternoon to compare their electricity charges. 

During “bill reveal,” they open the envelope slowly to show how much their Meralco bill is. 

The bill in the video showed P16,000, up from last month’s billing of P11,000. Customers also said that their bill doubled this month.

“Pakitaan ng resibo kung magkano, ikaw magkano. bakit sa ‘kin dumoble. Tapos tanungan sa’n kami kukuha,” said Eleanor Basilia, a Meralco customer, amid laughter.

Customers also said that “Judith” is the new dreaded word, and not “Marites.” 

Marites is a slang term referring to a gossipy person. “Marites” is a slang for a gossiper’s usual script which is “Mare, anong latest?”

Judith is a slang pertaining to “due date.”  “Si Judith talaga …Hindi na Marites, si Judith na (it’s no longer Marites, but Judith).”

Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives Inc. (PREC) worry that their customers might not view the bill hike in good light as many cities were announcing power hikes. According to their survey, 31 cooperatives, mostly from the Ilocos Region and Western Visayas, have announced power hikes.

“Distributor lang sila ng kuryente, taga kolekta, taga remit … worry lang namin hindi maintindihan ng consumers,” said Janeene Colingan, PREC executive director.

Several electric cooperatives are studying the possibility of giving installment options for customers who are having difficulty paying their bills in full. But Meralco is not considering this option as they also need money to pay their suppliers. 

“The electricity has been consumed. In our case, it’s postpaid, you consume first before customers pay,” said Meralco spokesperson Joe Zaldarriaga.

For the month of May, the bill will reflect increases in transmission charge, taxes, and other charges. The generation charge—which is what Meralco and other electric cooperatives use to buy electricity supply—will also go up.

In April, distributors bought a high cost of electricity from Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM).

The price hike in WESM was caused by power plants that malfunctioned, causing a thin electricity supply.  

Based on reports, the cooperatives purchased electricity 55% higher in the Visayas and 11% in Luzon. The increases will be passed on to the consumers.

With reports from Rizza Mae Escio