Saw this post from Antonette Aquino on Facebook - sharing it here. This is what she said:
No, I did not leave the aircon running 24/7.
My Meralco bill came in at ₱9,791.78. So let me break it down because nobody else will.
Generation charge alone is ₱5,266.66. That’s 54% of my entire bill. Meralco’s actual cut? ₱1,730.98. And that number hasn’t moved since 2022. What keeps going up is everything sitting on top of it.
Here’s what’s actually eating your money:
System Loss — ₱486.83
You are paying for stolen electricity. Illegal connections, meter tampering, jumpers. Republic Act 7832 lets Meralco pass the cost of electricity theft straight to paying customers.
Universal Charges — ₱201.96
Part of this goes toward paying off the National Power Corporation’s debts. Old debts. From decisions made before most of us were even working.
Government Taxes — ₱989.81
The 12% VAT is not just on what you consumed. It’s stacked on top of every other charge, including the subsidies you’re already paying for. So yes, you are paying tax on stolen electricity. Tax on an old government debt. Tax on a subsidy you do not even benefit from.
FiT-All and GEA-All — ₱149.59 combined
Two separate renewable energy levies running at the same time. The second one was quietly added to bills in February 2026. Both government-mandated. Neither one is optional.
FYI..none of this is illegal. It’s all backed by law. But legal and fair are not the same thing.
The middle class does not steal electricity. We do not qualify for lifeline rates. We do not get 4Ps. We just pay full VAT, fund everyone else’s discounts, and absorb costs that should never have been ours to begin with. Every month. Without relief.
What actually needs to change:
1. Reform the generation charge. One line item cannot be more than half your bill and go unchallenged.
2. Stop passing system loss to consumers. Other countries make the utility absorb it. We should demand the same.
3. Move faster on renewables. Lower generation costs long-term. That transition is already overdue.
📸 CTTO
STATEMENT OF REP. LEILA M. DE LIMA
Mamamayang Liberal (ML) Partylist
On the Bill Seeking to Lower the Age of Criminal Responsibility
20 July 2025
Lowering the age of criminal responsibility to 10 years old is not justice. It is abdication. It is a failure of imagination, of compassion, and of government.
Hindi kriminal ang bata. Ang batang naligaw ay hindi dapat kinukulong kundi kinakausap, inaaruga, at binibigyan ng pag-asa.
We do not fix a broken justice system by putting its weight on the smallest, weakest shoulders. We fix it by asking hard questions: Bakit may batang nalululong sa krimen? Sino ang tunay na nakikinabang sa mga pagkakasalang ito? Saan tayo nagkulang bilang lipunan?
Senator Padilla’s proposal is not new. It is a recycled idea that refuses to die, no matter how many times child rights advocates, neuroscientists, developmental psychologists, social workers, and human rights defenders have refuted it with facts, and compassion.
This bill does not address crime. It punishes trauma. It does not protect society. It betrays children we have already failed.
The law we already have—RA 9344 or the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act—is clear, progressive, and rooted in restorative justice. What we lack is not legislation, but thoughtful implementation. Ilan na ba sa ating mga LGU ang may maayos na Bahay Pag-asa? Ilan ang may sapat na social workers, psychologists, at trained personnel to offer real intervention and reintegration?
Let us not pretend that incarceration is the only language the State knows how to speak. As a former Secretary of Justice, I have seen what jails do to children. And I have seen what care, education, and structured rehabilitation can achieve. The difference is life-changing. Sometimes, life-saving.
Kung ang sagot natin sa batang nadapa ay kulungan, hindi ang bata ang tunay na dapat usigin kundi ang sistemang wala nang malasakit.
I appeal to my colleagues in the Senate and in the House: This is not a question of being “soft” or “tough” on crime. This is a question of who we are as a people. Are we the kind of nation that throws away a child before we even try to understand their pain?
To be truly just is to know the difference between punishment and cruelty.
And to those who say that children today are “more exposed,” I say: exposure is not consent. Exposure is not maturity. Exposure is not accountability. Kung mas exposed ang bata ngayon sa karahasan, droga, at pang-aabuso, lalo silang dapat pangalagaan. Imbes na ikulong.
Let us stop treating children as threats. They are mirrors. If we don’t like what we see, it is not the mirror we must shatter. It is the reflection of our failures.