THE rising cost of living and survival for hundreds of thousands of Filipinos is most easily seen in the huge increase in food prices and the electricity bills they receive every month. The Power for People Coalition has challenged President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to act on his promise made during his most recent State of the Nation Address to remove the systems loss charges from those bills.
Systems loss, or the electrical energy lost as electricity travels from the power generation source through transmission lines and distribution networks before finally reaching consumers, accounts for up to 12 percent of consumers’ power bills. Both the Senate and House of Representatives are actively debating bills like the Systems Loss Charge Removal Act pushed by President Marcos to completely ban utilities from charging consumers for these losses.
Several electric cooperatives (ECs) incur greater systems loss due to poor maintenance and failure to detect illegal power connections, and to defective, old or tampered meters. Then the ECs lose money when the officials pay themselves huge salaries and bonuses. Recently, the Zambales II Electric Cooperative (Zameco II) charged the Preda children’s home P125,000 for a failed transformer in Nagbayan village, Castillejos town. This is illegal. It is the responsibility of the EC to replace the transformer free of charge, as mandated by law.
The children’s home could only raise P20,000 and paid the amount under duress to save the children from further distress and fear, as Zameco II left them without electricity for three days. The children’s home protested the injustice and suffering inflicted on the children, who endured the unbearable heat and darkness of the countryside during those days. No light or electric fans, no refrigeration or water. As a result, food was spoiled. Zameco II officials did not seem to care and demanded the children’s home to pay for a new transformer or go without electricity.
The director of the Preda children’s home appealed to the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) for relief and action. Lawyer Leila Grace A. San Pedro of the ERC’s Consumers Affairs Service said her team would take appropriate action to resolve the case, but none was taken as of yet. Article 14 of the Magna Carta for Residential Electricity Consumers says the company supplying electricity is responsible for the “overhead system, poles, lines, and transformers.” In addition, Section 23 of Republic Act 9136, or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 (Epira), places the responsibility of supplying transformers on the EC or power company.
The law demands that Zameco II provide the transformer and pay for it, not consumers. Then as now, having electricity is more than a privilege; it is a necessity, like air and water, especially for children. Those at the Preda home are undergoing therapy after suffering abuse and exploitation in their homes and communities, and now are made to suffer anew because of this.
Hundreds of thousands of poor Filipino consumers are feeling similarly distressed by being overcharged by ECs and power companies. They feel powerless to get basic services and low-cost electricity. Consumers need to stop voting for people belonging to influential families that own or allied with such firms and elect those who will secure justice for them and enforce our laws.
Corrupt acts
Zameco II has faced a number of corruption and mismanagement allegations from consumer groups and lawmakers. One of them, the Castillejos Consumers Association, or Cascona, filed a landmark case against Zameco II several years ago. The EC’s board of directors was found guilty of corrupt acts and removed but was not punished. The Supreme Court later upheld the decision. So the corruption continues, it seems.
In July 2026, Zambales 1st District Rep. Jay Khonghun pushed for a House inquiry into Zameco II due to lingering complaints of widespread corruption, consumer overcharging and anti-consumer behavior, like withholding electric power from the Preda children’s home until they paid a huge sum of money. It was like blackmail. It was as if they were saying: Pay up or suffer more. Now, Zameco II is still demanding payment of their transformer despite it being illegal. The management of the children’s home is taking a stand and saying they are not obliged to pay for the transformer and will continue to expose the gross injustice and violation of the law committed by Zameco II and its officials.
Electricity supply of the Philippines is largely controlled by a small number of prominent conglomerates and family-owned corporations. This came about when rich political families that control Congress passed Epira, which privatized the electricity supply chain and put the sector in the hands of a few corporations. However, each company is limited to having 25 percent of the energy market to prevent a complete monopoly by one or two corporations. ERC data showed that five major players control the vast majority of the country’s installed capacity. The Masinloc power plant in Zambales is owned by San Miguel Global Power. The facility burns coal, and the firm is a subsidiary of San Miguel Corp., led by Ramon S. Ang. They provide 19.62 percent of the energy market. They also own the Sual and llijan coal-fired power plants.
The Aboitiz Power Corp., or AboitizPower, has 24.30 percent and produces electricity using coal, and hydro and solar power. First Gen Corp., owned by the Lopez family, has 10.74 percent and is into geothermal, natural gas and hydro. The Ayala Group’s ACEN Corp. has 6.91 percent and is into wind and solar power generation. And finally, the Manuel V. Pangilinan-owned Meralco PowerGen Corp. has 6.70 percent.
The country’s transmission grid is operated and controlled by the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP). It is a private consortium whose members include Henry Sy Jr. of the SM Group/Monte Oro Grid Resources; Robert Coyiuto Jr. of Calaca High Power Corp.; and the State Grid Corp. of China (SGCC), which holds a 40-percent technical stake. All these families and the SGCC, not the government, hold and control the entire power generation of the nation. You might say the country is run by private corporations and regulated by the government, which the ruling families also dominate through their cronies and relatives. The Philippines, you might say, is truly privatized, but the 113 million Filipinos are not part of it.
www.preda.org
