The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has pushed back against claims linking beneficiaries of the government’s flagship anti-poverty program to recent spikes in electricity bills, with Secretary Rex Gatchalian calling such assertions “fake news.”
In a television interview, Gatchalian said the surge in April power rates billed by Manila Electric Company (Meralco) was driven by higher generation costs, not by subsidies or consumption tied to beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).
He stressed that households enrolled in the 4Ps typically consume minimal electricity, often limited to basic lighting and a fan, making their overall impact on power demand negligible. According to the DSWD chief, even when aggregated, the subsidy component tied to low-income users under the lifeline rate amounts to less than half a centavo per household, which is far too small to significantly influence billing rates.
Recent figures show that only 135,411 4Ps households are enrolled in the Lifeline Rate Subsidy Program, a fraction compared to Meralco’s more than 8 million residential, commercial, and industrial customers.
Gatchalian also expressed openness to revisiting the Expanded Lifeline Rate Law but emphasized that any adjustments should not translate into higher costs for ordinary consumers. Instead, he suggested that large utility firms could absorb such subsidies as part of their corporate social responsibility.
Amid the controversy, the DSWD chief acknowledged the role of taxpayers, particularly the middle class, in sustaining social protection programs like 4Ps, which provides conditional cash grants to help families meet health, nutrition, and education requirements.
He added that the program continues to yield long-term gains, citing millions of beneficiaries who have completed schooling and thousands who have passed professional board examinations, milestones seen as key steps toward breaking cycles of poverty.
Gatchalian said these outcomes align with the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., which aims to bring the country’s poverty rate down to single digits by 2028.
The 4Ps remains the government’s primary poverty reduction initiative, designed not only to provide immediate financial relief but also to invest in human capital and long-term social mobility.