MANILA, Philippines – Manila Electric Company (Meralco) chairman Manny V. Pangilinan warned that the Philippine power industry “may not survive” if President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s order to remove system loss charges from consumers’ electricity bills is carried out in full.
Asked whether he would bow to the President’s order, Pangilinan did not exactly say yes. He said he wanted to talk to Marcos first.
“I think we should talk. We’re sympathetic. He’s under pressure too,” Pangilinan told reporters on Wednesday, July 29, referring to the spike in energy costs following the Iran war.
Pangilinan argued that Meralco’s distribution rate had been unchanged since July 2015, and that recent increases in electricity bills came from other parts of the power supply chain.
“The increase in the bill hasn’t come from us. Others have moved up,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino.
