Coalition slams power coops’ bid to charge tax to clienteles

Consumer and energy advocates condemned the proposal to add yet another passed-on charge to consumers.

 This after the Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives Association Inc. (Philreca) filing a petition with the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to initiate and promulgate rules on its proposal to pass-on Real Property Tax (RPT) charges to member consumers of ECs.

The Power for People Coalition, a network of power consumers, civil society organizations, and advocacy groups engaged in issues of energy and electricity, slammed the proposal of Philreca to add the tax on real property to the monthly bill of consumers nationwide.

The petition follows the Supreme Court ruling that transformers, electric posts, transmission lines, insulators and electric meters are not exempted from RPT under the local government units (LGUs).

“Local governments should not allow electric cooperatives (ECs) to pass on RPT to their constituents, indirectly taxing the citizens for the property of ECs which should be tax-exempt in principle in the first place,” said Power for People Convenor and Center for Energy, Ecology, and Development (CEED) Executive Director Gerry Arances.

“Voters should take note of which politicians support this proposal, especially partylist groups who represent interests other than that of the consumers,” he continued.

“In previous years, consumers have always been one with ECs to be recognized as tax-exempt just like any other cooperative, since they are supposed to be people’s enterprises owned by the consumers they serve,” said Dr. Clint Pacana, Convenor of the Mindanao Coalition of Power Consumers (MCPC).

“What I do not understand is why ECs, or Philreca, would just abandon the consumers in this. While the consumers fight it out for their tax exemption, ECs want the easy way of passing on the burden to their supposed owners – the unfortunate consumers.

We hope there is no collusion among local officials, ECs, and other distribution utilities (DUs) for this,” Dr. Pacana said.

Meanwhile, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has ordered Meralco last week, the biggest DU in the Philippines to refund consumers the estimated P4.41 billion left of the P10.8 billion for allegedly overcharging consumers from February 1994 to February 1998.

Last 2017, Meralco was also directed to refund P6.9 billion in overcharges collected over the previous three years, which included P1.08 billion in real property taxes.

“Despite the terrible underperformance of many DUs and ECs in delivering clean and affordable electricity in their franchises, Philreca shamefully has the nerve to pile on to the already overwhelming electric costs being shouldered by consumers,” said Power for People Convenor Gerry Arances.