Assistant Minority Leader Akbayan Party-list Rep. Chel Diokno has reiterated the need for the House of Representatives launch a inquiry on the sudden and unexplained surge in electricity costs.

This, as the lawyer-solon cited concerns from consumers regarding power distribution giant, the Manila Electric Company (Meralco).

"Nanawagan tayo sa Kongreso na aksyunan na sa mas lalong madaling panahon ang ating House Resolution (HR) No. 995 upang imbestigahan ang mabibigat at hindi malinaw na singil sa kuryente, Diokno said in a Facebook post on Tuesday morning, July 14.

(We call on Congress to act as soon as possible on our HR No. 995 to investigate the heavy and unclear electricity charges.)

In the same post, Diokno shared that his office received complaints of alleged "huge penalties" from Meralco.

"May mga lumalapit sa ating opisina dahil sa biglaan at napakalalaking penalties na ipinapataw sa kanila ng Meralco dahil daw sa nakitang jumper o tampering. May ganito rin ba kayong karanasan?" he asked.

(People have been coming to our office because of sudden and very large penalties imposed on them by Meralco, allegedly due to detected jumpers or tampering. Have you experienced this as well?)

HR No. 995 specifically directs the House Committee on Energy to conduct an inquiry, in aid of legislation, into the recent surge in electricity bills and the impact of the lifeline rate subsidy and other pass-through charges on consumers.

"Recent electricity bills issued by the [Meralco] have triggered public complaints over unusually high charges, imposing additional financial burdens on Filipino households already grappling with rising prices of basic goods and services and the continuing global oil crisis that has contributed to higher fuel and energy costs," read the measure that was filed last May.

The authors noted reports that consumers were being charged for various items in their electricity bills, including the generation charges, transmission

charges, system loss charges, universal charges, lifeline subsidy rate, Feed-in

Tariff Allowance (FIT-All), Green Energy Auction Allowance (GEA-All),

missionary electrification charges, taxes, and other pass-through costs.

The purpose of the proposed probe is to ensure equitable, transparent, and sustainable electricity rates as well as to protect consumers from undue financial burdens.

"Paalala rin sa lahat: Sa ilalim ng Article 9 ng Magna Carta for Residential Electricity Consumers ng Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), may karapatan ang consumer na ipasuri sa ERC ang kanilang metro," noted Diokno.

(Reminder to all: Under Article 9 of the Magna Carta for Residential Electricity Consumers of the [ERC], consumers have the right to have their meter inspected by the ERC,)

"Nananawagan tayo sa ERC na tiyaking nasusunod ang karapatang ito. Mandato nilang protektahan ang publiko, hindi ang interes ng malalaking kompanya ng kuryente," he added.

(We call on the ERC to ensure this right is upheld. Their mandate is to protect the public, not the interests of large power companies.)

Diokno's fellow Akbayan Party-list Reps Perci Cendaña and Dadah Kiram Ismula, and Dinagat Island lone district Rep. Kaka Bag-ao also served as authors of HR No. 995.