HOUSE Ways and Means Chair Joey Sarte Salceda (Albay, 2nd district) praised utility company MERALCO’s effort to make applying for the seniors’ or persons-with-disability discounts on electricity bills easier. The initiative follows a request from Salceda, author of House Bill No. 9793, which extends MERALCO’s franchise by another 25 years.
“I laud MERALCO’s effort to make it easier to register as a senior citizen or person with disability and avail of discounts. The application process is now available online, through a special MERALCO website, https://meralco.my.site.com/SCDA/s/,” Salceda said.
“I requested MERALCO to make this available, in consonance with the efforts of the Committee on Ways and Means to improve the privileges of vulnerable sectors,” Salceda added.
Registered customers aged 60 and above, and whose electricity service is named under the senior citizen applying for the discount, are eligible for the benefit. To continuously avail of the benefits of the Senior Citizen Household Discount, senior citizens must annually renew their application for it.
Salceda said that the site “is still subject to further comments from stakeholders.”
“I am requesting MERALCO to remove some documentary requirements, like the Barangay clearance. An ID should do,” Salceda added.
“I hope all corporations are as proactive in complying with their obligations to PWDs and Senior Citizens. This site is still in test mode, so we can still make comments.”