The House committee on energy on Sunday urged the government to quickly decide if it can use the Php 130 Billion Malampaya Fund to subsidize the Php 3.44 Kw /hr increase in electricity rates that will take effect this month. Oriental Mindoro Rep. Umali said the government should exhaust all means to relief to 5 million consumers following the power rate adjustments imposed by the Manila Electric Co. (MERALCO) from December 2013 until March 2014. PNoy has ordered Exec. Sec. Ochoa Jr., Finance Sec. Purisima, Budget Sec. Abad, Energy Sec. Patilla, Justice Sec. De Lima and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Caguio to review if the palace can use the Malampaya funds to cushion the impact of the impending rate hikes. During his visit to Tokyo for the ASEAN-Japan Commemorative Summit Pnoy said the government can't just dip it's fingers into the Malampaya Funds following the Supreme Court ruling barring its use for non-energy purposes.
