Pantabangan Folk ‘Living In The Dark’

Manila Bulletin

By ELLSON A. QUISMORIO

July 24, 2012, 7:15pm

MANILA, Philippines --- Over P80 million in unpaid electricity bills by the municipal government-owned Pantabangan Municipal Electric Services (PAMES) in Nueva Ecija have resulted in bleak consequences for residents of Pantabangan town – now they are virtually “living in the dark.”

First Gen Hydro Power Corporation (FGHPC) cut Monday noon the power supply to PAMES, the town’s power distributor, after the latter’s repeated failure to settle its arrears, the Manila Bulletin learned yesterday.

FGHPC, in an official bulletin issued Tuesday, said its decision to finally cut off power supply to PAMES was triggered by the failure of PAMES to make the scheduled payment of P7 million on June 30, 2012, “despite the reasonable extension granted upon the municipality’s request.”

“We were constrained to take such measure after PAMES, once again, failed to honor its obligations under the terms of a March 16, 2012, restructuring agreement to settle the more than P80 million it owes to the power generating firm,” the FGHPC said.

As a result, town residents now have virtually no access to electricity.

FGHPC, which owns and operates the Pantabangan-Masiway Hydroelectric Complex, said that it deferred cutting off power supply to PAMES until it could not do so anymore.

“We have been trying to hold off on the decision to cut off power supply to PAMES but we cannot afford to delay this action anymore, as we also have a responsibility to keep our operations viable considering that FGHPC also supplies power to two other electric cooperatives, a government agency and an industrial customer.”

The company also sought the understanding of town residents on the matter.

“We trust that the residents of Pantabangan will understand our decision. We are, in the meantime, exploring various options on how we can assist in providing temporary electrical supply to critical institutions, such as the public schools in Pantabangan,” it said.

It was learned that FGHPC sent a disconnection notice to PAMES on February 8, 2012, but held off after Pantabangan Mayor Romeo Borja Sr. appealed to the power firm for an extension. FGHPC acceded to Borja’s request, which led to a restructured agreement.

PAMES has been in arrears since 2007. It’s debt as of February 29, 2012 amounted to more than P80 million, inclusive of interest.

Aside from its overdue accounts to FGHPC, it was established from other sources that PAMES also has an outstanding obligation to the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) of P26.3 million as of December 31, 2011.

The terms of the re-payment schedule that FGHPC deemed acceptable were as follows: P7 million as well as the total amount due for the billing period February 26-March 25, 2012, by March 31, 2012; P7 million on or before June 30, 2012; P14 million on or before December 31, 2012; P7 million on or before March 31, 2013; P14 million on or before December 31, 2013; and, full payment of remaining balance of 31.2 million on or before March 31, 2014.

FGHPC also emphasized in its letter that the amounts indicated in the said re-payment schedule only refer to minimum re-payments, and reminded the municipal government that it should formally commit to keeping its power bills current, beginning with the amounts due for the period February 26-March 25, 2012, and pay its power bill on or before the due dates indicated in the corresponding statements of account.

It warned that failure to do so would leave the power firm “no alternative but to effect the immediate disconnection of electrical services.”    source