No Disconnection: Duterte Bars Cutting Power of Poor Filipinos

Poor Filipino households are spared from electricity disconnections as President Rodrigo Duterte directed distribution utilities to forgo cutting supply to those who cannot pay yet, a high-ranking Cabinet official said Thursday.

Duterte approved during a Cabinet meeting Wednesday night the recommendation of the Department of Energy to extend the "no disconnection" benefit for zero to low-income households,  Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said.

"Makakahinga na po ang ating mga kababayan na mababa o walang kita. Hindi po kayo mapuputulan ng kuryente. Hindi po kayo pababayaan ni Presidente," Nograles said.

While zero to low-income households are equivalent to 32% of the customer base of power companies, Nograles said data from the energy department showed that they only account for 3% of sales which means that the relief measure is "very doable."

"The President readily agreed given that electricity is a basic necessity our countrymen cannot live without," Nograles said.

Struggling household budgets due to the COVID-19 pandemic have prompted the Duterte administration to execute relief measures at the start of the year to help families cope.

Recently, President Duterte approved an executive order for a 60-day cap on the prices of pork and chicken meat in the capital region.

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