Estehanon's clamor for an answer to the seemingly unjust electric bills from the Eastern Samar Electric Cooperative (ESAMELCO) finally came with the filling of House Resolution 846 to be deliberated during the congress' first regular session.
Rep. Marcelino Libanan, Minority floor leader, a native of Taft, Eastern Samar, filed the resolution early this March to address the issues and complaints hurled at the electric cooperative which has been ignoring the voices of its consumers.
For years, the residents have been enduring the poor services of the cooperative which "doesn't budge" despite the consistent negative feedbacks which led the people to take their frustrations on the social media accounts.
In a post on March 2, consumer Jing rants about an unattended sparking cables that endangers the nearby residences with the risk of a fire.
"Makaduha na ak pagtxt ta iyo hotline and twice na kami balik ha iyo opisina but to no avail. Our outlets are not working tapos ta amon mga ilaw nagsasarayaw once turned on. Pag donate nala kam ngadi hin fire extinguisher kun di kam tipalihog pagcheck kay feeling ko maglalarab na ngadi ha di maiha nga panahon, "Jing posted.
She further stated that it has been four days but they have not gotten any response from the office nor an answer to any of their phone calls.
An anonymous consumer told OpinYon 8 that recurring brownouts are so common that they expected it to occur every Fridays to Sundays with power outage lasting up to 12 hours.
"Tapos kada guti nga uran tapos hangin sigurado brown out ito, tapos it bill mahal la gihapon" the consumer said.
Last October 2022, ESAMELCO charges about P19. 6569 per kilowatt hour which many claims to be "unrealistic" considering the amount of time they get to enjoy the supply of electricity they are paying for.
Now there's hope
If approved, the bill is urging the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to keep a close eye on ESAMELCO's operations and to take appropriate measures to ensure that it complies with its mandate to provide reliable and affordable electricity for residents of the province.
"Be it further resolved, that the committee on energy be directed to look into the root causes of the problems affecting ESAMELCO's management and operations, the evaluation of the adequacy of its resources and infrastructure, and the identification of possible reforms to improve its efficiency and effectiveness."
"Kailangan mapagtuunan ito ng pansin dahil isa po ito sa necessity ng ating mga kababayan. Ang madalas na power outage at mataas na presyo ng kuryente ay malaki po ang epekto sa araw-araw nating pamumuhay, " Cong. Libanan said.
Now that their voices has been heard, estehanons hope that the Congress will take action on the matters that is long overdue.
"It's about time.. kunta pagpaparong meada inconvenience fee plus damage fees.. dire la kami an nagkawawakayan appliances cguro damu it makaka Relate hini, duha nga Smart TV, duha nga rice cooker, usa nga ref tas water pump, " netizen Arthy posted.
Meanwhile, as steps are now being made for the East, hope ignited for many Nortehanons of Northern Samar who are experiencing the same issues, if not worse, from the Northern Samar Electric Cooperative (Norsamelco). Now that steps has been made, the people hopes that other leaders will follow to help them get the services they deserve.