P155-B potential fund source eyed for crisis response, DEPDev says

THE Budget department has identified about P155 billion worth of additional sources to fund the government’s oil crisis response, the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev) said on Wednesday.

At the Proactive Response and Oversight for Timely and Effective Crisis Strategy (PROTECT) Committee hearing, DEPDev Undersecretary Joseph J. Capuno said the additional source may support P151.8-billion requirement for the measures eyed by the transport, agriculture, social welfare, and migrant workers agencies.

“The DBM (Department of Budget and Management) also identified P155 billion in possible sources, including savings from unobligated allotments and a possible funding through a Bayanihan type of measure,” he said.

In early April, Senator Lorna Regina B. Legarda filed Senate Bill No. 2020, or the Power to the People Act, which targets the expansion of financial relief assistance for those affected by the oil crisis including the transport, agriculture, and fishery sectors.

According to Mr. Capuno, P41.6 billion has already been disbursed for the oil crisis, with P238.6 billion appropriated for the response measures.

PROTECT Chairperson Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian pointed out in the hearing that the DEPDev lacked in providing the targets of subsidy provisions.

He urged the Department of Transportation (DoTr) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to come up with a complete list of beneficiaries in times of oil shocks.

“If we combine the DoTr and DSWD interventions, it would appear that the old target is at 1.3 million [beneficiaries], now it is at 2.2 million based on estimates,” Mr. Gatchalian said, noting that only 55% of the target beneficiaries had been given assistance.

Separately, Mr. Gatchalian clarified the generation charge hike from P7.75 per kilowatt hour in January to P8.39 in April led to the electric bill shock, as opposed to claims blaming the imposition of the lifeline rate and senior citizen discount.

“The hike in generation charge, this is what we’re seeing in our electricity bills, not the increase of lifeline rate or the senior citizens’ discount,” Mr. Gatchalian explained in mixed English and Filipino. 

The Lifeline Rate Subsidy Program, mandated under the Republic Act No. 9136 or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 and the Republic Act No. 11552, aims to provide electricity discounts for qualified low-income households including 4Ps beneficiaries.

Mr. Gatchalian also called on the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to stagger the price increase to cushion the impacts of bill shock and revisit the value-added tax (VAT) component of electricity including the franchise tax and energy tax. — Kaela Patricia B. Gabriel