Govt to give electricity subsidies to poor in Sept

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

MALACAÑANG announced the new launch date of the lifeline rate program for poor households to help them pay for their electricity bills to next month.

“The program roll-out has been moved to September 2023 to give qualified customers more time to register,” the Presidential

Communications Office (PCO) said in a statement last Sunday.

Under the program, the government will provide subsidized rate for qualified lowincome electricity customers, which includes beneficiaries of the “Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program” (4Ps), or customers considered to be living below the poverty threshold set by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). Those who would like to apply from the program must submit to their concerned Distribution Utility (DU)/Electric Cooperative (EC) their duly accomplished Lifeline Rate Application Form, their most recent electricity bill, and any valid government-issued identification card (ID) containing the signature and address of the customer.

Customers, who are living below the poverty threshold set by the PSA must also submit certification from the local Social

“While the EPR law focuses on waste management, particularly on waste reduction, recovery and recycling, and circularity in plastics, it should be complemented with interventions and solutions that address the full lifecycle of plastic,” Lorenzo was quoted in a statement as saying.

“The implications of the existing EPR model, which primarily centers on the end-of-life phase, must be taken into account. We don’t want to end up incentivizing producers, distributors, and retailers with tax deductions and fiscal incentives for recovery schemes that include ‘thermal treatment’ and ‘pollutive’ waste diversion and disposal technologies such as incineration, pyrolysis, or waste-to-fuel,” he explained.

“There is a clear necessity to amplify efforts to cover the entire lifecycle of plastics, from the extraction of the raw

Welfare and Development Office (SWDO) issued within the last six months.

A household can only have one application, which will be filed to a DU service or an EC service.

“The power reduction rate varies depending on the prevailing rates of the DUs or ECs,” the PCO said.

If the applicant lives within a service area of the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), lifeline end-users will pay between P20 to P904.21, depending on their monthly consumption.

4Ps beneficiaries will be able to avail of the program as long as they included in

“Banning has been shown to prevent tons of plastics from entering the waste stream and coastal pollution, as demonstrated by local and global practices,” said BAN Toxics.

The group noted that President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. urged Congress in his second State Of the Nation Address to pass a law that will impose excise taxes on single-use plastics instead of banning them. Numerous bills and resolutions have been introduced in both chambers of Congress aiming to ban single-use plastics without significant progress.

The EPR law (RA 11898) represents the first amendment to the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act.

BAN Toxics has been engaged in international negotiations pertaining to a legally binding global plastics treaty to end plastic pollution. “It is important that this global plastic treaty addresses plastic production at its core and incorporates provisions to freeze and phase down plastic production.” the updated list of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

“If delisted, the customer may opt to apply for a local SWDO certification if he/she is living below the poverty line and may reapply for Lifeline Rate,” PCO said. Based on the July data from the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), there are 12,829 household beneficiaries of 4Ps, which can apply for the Lifeline Rate program. Meanwhile, the Lifeline rate for non-4Ps beneficiaries will have a 3-year validity from the date of issuance of certification by the local SWDO.

Jennifer A. Ng