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Temper high power rates in provinces: Sen. Grace Poe raises alarm over the disparity in the prices of electricity rates in Metro Manila and those in the provinces Monday, August 8, 2022. Interpellating Senate President Juan Miguel "Migz" Zubiri on his privilege speech, the Committee on Public Services chairperson lamented that electricity fees in Metro Manila had been "significantly lower" than those charged from consumers in the provinces, even as they suffer from intermittent power supply and poor services by electric cooperatives. "What have they been doing with the money that they have been receiving [from the consumers]?" Poe said of electric cooperatives, adding that the profits could have been used to improve their services. The senator called for a review of the contracts entered into by the electric cooperatives with power suppliers to mitigate the high cost of their services. Poe also asked her colleagues to look into proposals to remove the 12-percent value-added tax (VAT) on generation charge to possibly bring down electricity prices. (Bibo Nueva Espana/Senate PRIB)