By
Roderick Abad - December 7, 2017
The local government of
Manila and the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) held on Wednesday a
joint strategic planning session at the City Hall’s Bulwagang Villegas to map
out future strategies, plans and programs aimed at assuring optimum,
uninterrupted service to Manileños, business locators and establishments in the
coming years.
“Meralco has been our
partner in providing full-service electricity to the whole of Manila, and in
our street-lighting project that has made our streets peaceful and free of
criminals,” Manila Mayor Joseph E. Estrada told the BusinessMirror.
He cited the success of
the prepaid electricity-marketing program of Meralco in Manila that has led to
savings in electric consumption of households in the city.
In fact, according to
Meralco Senior Vice President (SVP) Alfredo S. Panlilio, this “budget-friendly”
offering has enabled customers to reduce their consumption and/or realize
savings of at least 15 percent to 18 percent of their usual monthly bill.
Of the 85,000 customers
that availed themselves of the prepaid electric service, he said that more than
half, or 45,000, of them are households in Manila.
The Meralco SVP noted
that their alliance is not limited to providing the basic need of the people,
but also in other projects of the city, such as disaster preparedness, sports
development, Baseco housing, and the MVP Technology Center in the Pamantasan ng
Maynila (PLM).
Even before their
partnership, Estrada already had shown good governance, especially
supporting the business community, when he found ways to settle the city’s
P613-million debts to Meralco incurred by the previous administration.
It was the first
official act he did as the local chief executive when he assumed office in July
2013, thus, earning for Manila the Meralco Local Government Unit Luminary Award
the following year.
On the other hand, the
power giant is recognized by the city government as one of its main
contributors to the locality’s coffers.
“Meralco is also a big
taxpayer in the city and helps us in various projects, such as the technology
center in PLM and the Tondo Sports Complex,” he said.
In 2016 the utility
firm was no. 8 on the list of the biggest payer s of the real property tax at
P59,211,343.77.
Estrada called Meralco
and Manila as “stewards for the future,” as they jointly plan to give the local
residents sufficient electric supply in the years and decades to come.
The mayor looks forward
to more opportunities to work closely with Meralco for the benefit of his
constituents.
Moving forward,
Meralco’s Ryan Gutierrez presented plans on how to cope with the power
requirements of the forthcoming five huge reclamation projects along Manila
Bay.
He cited the future
development of Manila substations for efficient power delivery in the city.
No comments:
Post a Comment