Woman says she paid for neighbors’ electricity bills

A resident of Tanza, Cavite who wanted to have her family’s electric service back said she ended up paying for some of her neighbors’ unpaid bills.

According to the “Kapuso Action Man” report of Emil Sumangil on “24 Oras,” it took Resty Lopez two years to settle her bill which amounted to P8,000.

“Sa kagustuhan ko nga po na makabitan kami, binayaran ko po yung dalawang putol. Eh, nu’ng inaayos po namin, wala pang isang linggo may naputulan na naman na isa. Eh, P20,000 na po ‘yung bill nila. Hindi ko na po kayang sagutin,” 

(Because we wanted to have our power back, we also paid for their missed payments. But while we were settling the fees, electricity of one of our neighbors again got disconnected. The bill was P20,000. We could no longer afford that.)

Meralco said Lopez only needed to pay her electricity bill and not those of her neighbors.

“Ang responsibility lang niya ay doon sa kanyang sariling account. Ang nangyari kasi rito, nagkaroon ng komplikasyon yung kanilang account. Maraming na-disconnect at hindi rin nagsettle agad ng kanilang arrears so pagka ganyan kasi talagang there is a process that has to be looked into,” Meralco spokesperson Joe Zaldarriaga said.

(Their responsibility is her account. What happened here was there was a complication on their account. A lot of their neighbors had their power supply disconnected. There is a process that has to be looked into.)

“Ang importante lang dito is masundan yung tamang proseso. Requirements are met. Kung merong previous issues, ma-resolve yung previous issues na ‘yun at once yung two conditions na ‘yun are met then definitely, kamukha dito sa kaso nila nanay ay naibalik, nanumbalik yung serbisyo nila ng kuryente,” Zaldarriaga added. 

(What’s important here is to follow the process, so requirements are met. If there are previous issues, these issues should be settled before the reactivation.) 

Electricity in the Lopez household has since been reinstated. 

“Nagpapasalamat po ako… Kung hindi pa po ako lumapit sa inyo hindi pa ako maaaksyunan. Salamat po talaga ng marami,” Lopez said. 

(I’m thankful… My complaint might not have been acted on if I didn’t come to you. Thank you very much.) —Sundy Locus/NB, GMA Integrated News