Island in Albay lost power supply due to unpaid P32M electric bill

The island town of Rapu-Rapu in Albay is now enveloped in darkness after the Albay Power and Energy Corp. (APEC) completely cut off its power supply this Saturday.

According to Lesley Capus, head of APEC’s institutional relations and customers, the unsettled electric bill reached P32 million for more than 1,000 member-consumers on the island since 2014.

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APEC would have demanded an initial payment of P15 million to stop the power outage. But they only collected more than P3 million.

“[Noong] 2018 pa actually nagpalabas ng warning sa kanila regarding dito at nagbigay tayo ng consideration. Kaya lang hindi na rin kaya ng APEC na abunuhan yung binibili nating kuryente sa National Power Corporation,” said Capus.

(In 2018, we actually issued a warning to them regarding this and we gave consideration. It’s just that APEC can’t afford to pay for the electricity we buy from the National Power Corporation.)

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According to Rapu-Rapu Mayor Boy Galicia, the absence of an APEC office on the island is the possible reason why residents cannot pay their electricity bills.

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Island in Albay lost power supply due to unpaid P32M electric bill

“Wala kasi silang opisina dito ang APEC kaya nahirapan magbayad. May payment outlet naman sila dito kaya lang may service charge. May pumupunta naman sila ditong collector pero once or thrice a year lang,” said Galicia.

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(They don’t have an APEC office here, so it’s hard to pay. They have a payment outlet here, so there is a service charge. Some of them come to this collector but only once or thrice a year.)

The mayor insisted that the power supply would have been cut off to the member consumer who did not pay because the payers were affected.

APEC replied that it is not possible because, according to their records, most member-consumers are in debt for electricity bills.

The mayor temporarily lit the streetlights in the town’s poblacion using their generator sets.

But he called on the residents to pay their electricity bills because the local government cannot take the responsibility to pay them.

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