Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Monday, November 14 said the government should make sure that marginalized consumers are the actual beneficiaries of the law granting electricity lifeline rate subsidy.

Gatchalian, vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy, made the call following the recent signing of the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) No. 11552 or the Act Extending and Enhancing the Implementation of the Lifeline Rate until 2050.

While the law seeks to provide assistance in the form of subsidy to those living below the poverty line, the government should make sure that targeted beneficiaries are those who will actually benefit from the law.

“Ang panawagan ko lang sa gobyerno ay tiyakin na ang dapat makinabang sa subsidiyang ito ay ang mga tunay na benepisyaryo o yung mga pinakamahihirap nating kababayan (My only appeal to the government is to make sure that the ones who should benefit from this subsidy are the real beneficiaries or the poorest of our countrymen),” Gatchalian said in a statement.

“Inaasahan na ang patuloy nating pagbibigay ng subsidiya ay magbibigay sa kanila ng kaluwagan sa gitna ng mataas na presyo ng mga pangunahing bilihin at iba pang buwanang bayarin sa bahay (We expectthat our continued subsidy will give them relief amid the high prices of basic commodities and other monthly household bills),” Gatchalian said.

The senator also said the ongoing review of the list of the government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) would bode well for the implementation of the law, particularly in the determination of beneficiaries of the government subsidy.

The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) recently approved the IRR for RA 11552 together with the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

Signed into law in May 2021, the law primarily extends the lifeline rate allowing the country’s marginalized electricity consumers to avail of and benefit from the lifeline rate for a much longer time.

Under the law, qualified end-users include 4Ps beneficiaries and those who have been certified and continually validated as such by their power distribution utility based on the criteria determined by the ERC.

Gatchalian said the extension of the provision of government subsidy for marginalized electric consumers is more meaningful now given the economic uncertainties brought by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict.