Meralco vows to be considerate as Oct. 31 deadline for staggered payment looms

Meralco on Thursday said it is keeping its October 31 deadline for customers to settle their bills for the months covered by the enhanced community quarantine period.

Interviewed on Unang Hirit, Meralco spokesperson Joe Zaldarriaga said the power distributor will be considerate with customers who will not be able to pay after the deadline.

“Sa ngayon, ang aming giya, hanggang end of October,” Zaldarriaga said when asked if the deadline can be extended to December.

“Siyempre tayo maghihintay din ng guidance from government kung ano ang magiging decision ukol dyan,” he added.

According to Zaldarriaga, disconnecting the power service of customers is not a priority of Meralco as it acknowledged the financial struggle of the public amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Ngayon, hindi namin priority ang magputol ng kuryente. Alam naman po namin gaano ka-kritikal ang kuryente ngayon sa ating mga kababayan,” he said.

“Ngayon ang tanong, even after the deadline has lapsed, sinabi naman namin we will be very considerate. Siguro, we will take it on case to case basis,” he added.

Zaldarriaga emphasized that Meralco is not the only participant in the power supply chain, adding the company also has financial responsibilities such as paying power generators.

According to him, Meralco already made advance payments despite the fact that some customers have yet to pay their power consumption.

He noted that Meralco receives only 20 to 25% of the payment from consumers, adding that more than 50% goes to generation cost.

The electricity consumption of customers during the Luzon-wide enhanced community can be paid in four monthly installments.

Meralco initially extended the payment from March 1 to April 30 with no disconnection policy. It was extended several times until it reached the current October 31 deadline. —KBK, GMA News