Very unfortunate that there are once again families languishing for the loss of lives after Tyhoon Basyang hit the country.  The strong wind it brought also damaged many properties and agricultural areas mostly from the National Capital Region and Southern Luzon areas.  Its fury made the island of Luzon live in darkness for at least a day:  no electricity, no internet (!?), no text messaging and phone calls and no water.  The whole scenario of a dark metropolis swept by raging storm is quite inconceivable for modern day living.

On our own home, branches from nearby trees, leaves, trash and a damaged roof were the sights to behold after Basyang passed by our vicinity.  Two-day vacation from work with class suspended Wednesday and Thursday, but there was no room to relax as cleaning and fixing the roof were on top of the “to do” list.

We have been experiencing many wet days as heavy rain pours to piss us off on our way to work or school while Typhoon Basyang reminded us that the fury of nature is beyond man’s power.  The odd thing though is that while we have been reckoning with heavy rainfall and flooding on major roads for a couple of months now, many households are still problematic about their water supply as many of our water reservoirs are drying up like the public coffer left by my favorite Philippine President Gloria Arroyo, pun intended.

Water supply has been scarce if not no supply at all on some areas, but people in the water distribution business are saying that everything is alright and there is nothing to worry.  Still poised and fabulous under pressure as my friend would describe it and its synonym is “not telling the truth.”

Oddities seem to never just go away on our everyday living.

The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines worked their asses out 24/7 in order to restore all the transmission lines damaged by the typhoon.  But this does not come for free folks.  Brace yourselves.  They have already announced that all the expenses incurred for the repair of all damaged transmission lines and facilities caused by Lola Basyang will be passed on to all consumers…again.  This is another typhoon that consumers will have to bear and fight with not only for a day but for months or even years on their electricity bills.

While people are still very desperate to fix their homes and put back their livelihood after being beaten up by Basyang, the NGCP is trying to add insult to injury.

So what are they doing to the amount we have been paying them?  Shouldn’t their company placed a budget for all expenses like this from their annual income in order for the company to keep running on its feet?

This has been the dynamics of many public utility companies in the Philippines:  to pass on to consumers all their expenses in order to recoup the money that went out of their wallet.  In return, the consumers have always been helpless as the paradigm and the worn-out reasoning of “if we will not recoup our expenses, then no electricity or water will be supplied, the consumers will suffer”, is still being bought by regulators usually caught sleeping on their desks.  Although you are not receiving the best and worse not receiving anything in terms of services or material, you are being forced to sign in the check.  A short description of this modus is, “black mail.”  This unjust system may be legal but certainly not the right and just thing especially to a poor country.

In Mindanao for example, people have been experiencing 4-8 hours of daily blackout but they have to pay higher electricity bill compared the time when they have not been experiencing any power interruptions.

Odd?  The problem is odd things and crazy governance has become the frequent and the usual, thanks to our flawed systems of governance that only pampers the asses of big businesses and corporations.

So what will happen to the proposed increase on electrify rates by the NGCP due to the power lines and facilities they repaired after experiencing the fury of Basyang?  They said that they are to file it to the Energy Regulatory Commission for scrutiny and approval and consumers can question it there.  But on many cases, consumers have been at the losing end of the yard stick.

Basyang will not be the last typhoon that will hit our shores; it is only one of the many more to come.  The putting of high-voltage transmission lines underground to prevent another “Lola Basyang” sad story is already under study.  But for now, consumers have to wrestle with the fact that they always have to sign the check for all these utility companies.

What is your thought about the impending increase on electricity rates as NGCP plans to pass on to consumers their expenses on repairing damaged transmission lines and facilities?  And any thoughts about this system of “passing on” to consumer the expenses incurred by utility companies?

Image from Rtatek

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