Meralco has enough funds to pay power suppliers – lawmaker

MANILA, Philippines - A lawmaker believes the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) has enough funds to pay power suppliers to avert a shortage in electricity.

Deputy Minority Leader Arnel Ty said they have discovered that Meralco has amassed P43 billion in “cumulative earnings” after examining the company’s financial statements.

“The P43 billion is already net of all funds earmarked by Meralco to further enlarge its business, and is on top of the P40 billion it had paid to its shareholders as dividends from 2009 to 2013,” he said.

Meralco could use the P43 billion to pay power suppliers, Ty said.

Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla has urged Meralco to partially pay power producers while unable to charge electricity consumers the P4.15 per kilowatthour increase in generation charge for November last year.

The Supreme Court (SC) has stopped Meralco from collecting the increase.

Ty said Meralco’s net earnings have grown from just P2.8 billion in 2008 to P6 billion in 2009, P9.7 billion in 2010, P13.2 billion in 2011, and to P17 billion in 2012.

“While Meralco is a private entity, it is also a business that enjoys a privilege granted by the state, by way of a legislative franchise bestowed by Congress, to exclusively distribute electricity in Metro Manila and outlying areas,” he said. – With Iris Gonzales