VICE Presidential candidate and Senate President Vicente Sotto III said that it is possible to provide free electricity to poor families if corruption will be eliminated.

“Pagka nasugpo natin ang isyu ng korupsiyon, sa lahat po ng hindi kumikita ng P300,000 sa isang taon, pagka less than P300,000 ang income ninyo sa loob ng isang taon, puwede pong sagutin ng gobyerno ang inyong koryente. Dapat libre ang koryente,” Sotto said.

Many Filipinos said that the high costs of utilities are among the reasons for their inability to get out of relative poverty.

Partido Reporma standard-bearer Panfilo Lacson and Sotto aim to resolve this problem through budget reforms should they get elected in the upcoming elections.

Meanwhile, Lacson offered some plans to resolve the problem of some households in Metro Manila that are complaining about their high utilities expense because of improper connections to the service providers.

Some local government officials and residents told the presidential candidate that there are people who have resorted to the so-called “pakabit” or attachment system just so they could access water and electricity services.

Under this arrangement, a household with legal connection to water and power distributors allows its neighbors — mostly informal settlers — to connect with their system but they would have to pay triple the amount of the usual rates.

Lacson said this problem could have been avoided if the government managed public funds for the benefit of the larger population and not waste them on misplaced priorities or corruption.

“Imagine kung mayroong P300 billion na hindi nagagamit at mayroon pang P700-billion na mali ang paggamit, isipin ninyo isang trilyon. E baka kayang sagutin ‘yung mga hindi kayang magbayad ng koryente, hindi kayang magbayad ng tubig, baka puwedeng hatian ng gobyerno ‘yung pambayad,” he said.