The Alliance of Concerned Consumers in Electricity and Social Services (ACCESS) issued a manifesto of solidarity signed by its president Wennie Sancho, to be ratified on the forthcoming Central and Northern Negros Consumers Conference in Bacolod City on April 30.
The manifesto of solidarity is a call for all electricity consumers in Negros Island Region (NIR) amidst the economic uncertainties and the escalation of tensions in the Middle East, particularly in the Strait of Hormuz.
The manifesto is calling all electricity consumers to come together in this moment of grave uncertainties. The strait of Hormuz through which a fifth of the world’s oil passes is under threat, and it is possible that violence could erupt if no peaceful agreement could be reached after the ceasefire expires on April 21. When conflict erupts there, the tremors reach our homes, our meters and our tables.
“We declare that the challenges before us are not abstract, they are felt in every fare increase, in every adjustment in the electric bills, in every peso lost to inflation. The Visayas Power Grid faces thinning reserves. Fuel markets are volatile. The economic growth of NIR and that of our families’ welfare hang in the balance,” the manifesto added.
“Therefore, in solidarity we declare that no households, no business, no community is immune from the impact of global energy shocks. The rise in crude oil prices becomes the rise of the cost of living. The risk of supply shortage becomes the risk of brownout for all,” it said.
Our response must be united. We reject division and blame. The path forward requires consumers, distribution utilities, local government units, and national agencies to move as one. Only through unity we can protect reliability, affordability and dignity, the manifesto said.
The storms abroad are not our making. But the strength of our response is ours to decide. Let history records show that when uncertainty loomed, we chose solidarity over fear, action over apathy and the common good over narrow interest, it said.
We are consumers, but we are not powerless. United we keep the lights on. United we keep hope alive.
For Solidarity, For Security, For Our Future, the manifesto added.*
