BAGUIO CITY – The number of beneficiaries enjoying the BENECO (Benguet Electric Cooperative) lifeline rate subsidy in Baguio City and Benguet has seen a significant drop to 861 as of January 15, 2023, attributed to the impact of the newly enacted government law, RA 11552, on lifeline grants.
Previously, BENECO had 80,794 lifeline beneficiaries in December 2023.
However, with the implementation of RA 11552, the law has changed who qualifies as a lifeliner, leading to a substantial reduction in the beneficiary count.
The new law specifically designates lifeliners as recipients of the government’s 4Ps (Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program) and those certified by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) as part of the marginalized sector.
Under the former system, which included 80,974 consumers, the subsidy rates ranged from 5% to 50% based on monthly power consumption.
However, RA 11552’s implementation delisted approximately 80,113 lifeline consumers, as directed by the Department of Energy (DOE) on January 1, 2024.
To be considered lifeline consumers under the new guidelines, 4Ps beneficiaries and individuals belonging to the marginalized sector must apply to the distribution utility (DU), with the DSWD providing the DU the list of beneficiaries.
Consequently, BENECO cannot include new lifeline beneficiaries without their names in the DSWD list, even if they were part of the previous lifeline program.
As of January 1, 2024, only 861 applications were approved, comprising 839 4Ps beneficiaries and 22 non-4Ps individuals certified by the DSWD as part of the marginalized sector.
The town of Buguias led with 251 approved applicants, followed by Mankayan (154), Bakun (86), La Trinidad (86), and Atok (52), among others.
Notably, on January 17, 2024, the DSWD released a list of delisted 4Ps beneficiaries, making them ineligible for lifeline benefits.
The DOE instructed DUs, including BENECO, to discontinue the lifeline rate within two billing cycles upon receiving the list of delisted beneficiaries.
BENECO had initiated the removal of ineligible individuals from the subsidy list since June 2023. (Laarni Sibayan-Ilagan)
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