Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano on Friday proposed the formation of a national commission that would bring together lawmakers, energy agencies, regulators, experts, the academe, and key industry players to urgently address high electricity rates and recurring power outages.
In a Facebook livestream on July 24, 2026, Cayetano said the body could adopt the intensive and multisector approach of the Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM) which studies problems across the education sector and recommends concrete reforms.
The proposed commission would go beyond the existing congressional power commission, which is composed of lawmakers, by involving the Energy Regulatory Commission, the Department of Energy, the private sector, and other stakeholders directly involved in the power industry.
“Hindi po sustainable na may mga area na brownout nang brownout, may mga area naman na wala pa ring kuryente until now,” he said.
He also floated the idea of an ad hoc body that will regularly meet for the next six months as a way to bring all concerned sectors together and immediately work on solutions.
Coming just a few days before the President’s State of the Nation Address, Cayetano’s call
comes amid continued high electricity costs and pressure on the country’s power grids.
Meralco raised its residential rate by P0.3428 per kilowatt-hour in July, bringing the household rate to P14.8261 per kWh. For a typical household consuming 200 kWh, this added about P69 to the monthly bill. The rate is about 17 percent higher than in July 2025.
The Visayas grid was also placed under red alert for six hours on July 8 after transmission and power plant outages left available supply below projected demand. In May, the Luzon grid went on red alert for three consecutive days, with rotational outages affecting 1.9 million Meralco customers on May 13 alone.
“Marami pong nasha-shock na ang electricity bill nila ay P2,000, naging P2,800; P22,000, naging P30,000,” Cayetano said.
While acknowledging the efforts of the the Department of Energy and the UPLIFT Committee, Cayetano said lowering electricity costs and the overall cost of living should rank among the country’s top priorities.
He stressed that the scale of the electricity problem requires a “whole-of-government and whole-of-community approach.”
No ‘ghosts’ in Taguig
During the livestream, the Minority leader also addressed the allegations of ghost infrastructure projects in Taguig.
“The allegations are general,” the Taguigeño lawmaker said. “I continue to wait kung ano ’yung specific allegation, and haharapin ko ’yan.”
On Friday morning, Senator Panfilo Lacson posted an “Update No. 3” claiming that his team had found “damning evidence” on alleged “ghost infra projects” in Taguig, although the X post itself did not identify the particular project or evidence involved.
Cayetano maintained that preliminary checks by barangay and city officials, as well as inspections by national government personnel, found no ghost projects in Taguig, especially any involving him.
“In our preliminary investigations, wala kaming nakitang ghost. Y’ung mga nakita naming may problema, we reported it earlier. No less than the top DPWH officials from the regional to the national level have inspected some of the projects na may problema at hindi kami nagkulang na magsabing, ‘Ito mali ang pagkagawa, ito bakit ganito, ito ang tagal-tagal na,” he said.
He reiterated his openness to an investigation but called for an examination of infrastructure projects nationwide instead of singling out Taguig.