SENATOR Raffy Tulfo is asking the Senate to investigate what he termed as the never-ending problem of electricity supply and unreasonable power rates.
Tulfo, who filed a Senate resolution on the matter, is training his eyes on over a dozen electric cooperatives who have been operating for decades now and is often the target of complaints filed by consumers.
He said there are areas that experience power outages of about 10 to 12 hours, which causes damage to appliances, students being unable to study at nighttime yet being charged with high electricity bills.
There are also cooperatives, he said, like those in Mindoro that operate inefficiently, yet have the gall to ask for a raise in salary plus bonuses for its officials and employees.
He said there are also cooperatives that ask for subsidy from the government despite their crappy operations.
He believes the national government may have neglected these energy agencies for many years. He said this is the reason why he had asked former officials of the Department of Energy (DOE), including former DOE chief Alfonso Cusi, including officials of the National Electrification Administration.
If electric cooperatives are proven to be negligent, Tulfo said he will recommend, as chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy, to revoke the cooperatives’ legislative franchise.