Meralco reacts to Cacai Mitra's viral post of P94K bill

The Manila Electric Company said it has already reached out to Cacai Mitra, sister of singer Regine Velasquez, regarding her viral post which showed her Meralco bill of more than P94,000 for June 2026.

"We have seen the social media post of Ms. Cacai Mitra and have since reached out to her to better understand her concerns and discuss the details of her billing," Meralco vice president and head of corporate communications Joe Zaldarriaga said in a statement Friday.

The company said Mitra's account is a high-load service and they did not note an unusual surge in her consumption.

"Ms. Cacai’s account is classified as a high-load service and there was no unusual surge in her consumption, which is also reflected in the historical chart in her bill," Meralco said.

"The increase in her electricity usage during the period in question is consistent with her seasonal consumption pattern. *The actual consumption remains within the normal range of her previous bills, both when compared with the preceding months and with the same period last year*," it added.

"We explained particulars of the billing with Ms. Cacai. To further assist and provide additional clarity, we have offered to conduct a technical survey of her property. We remain in close coordination with the customer and are committed to addressing any other questions she may have regarding her account," Meralco said.

In a Facebook post on June 16, Mitra wrote: "Ayoko na sana makisabay, pero mahimatay naman ako dito Meralco. super conscious na nga ako sa gamit ng kuryente. Bahay lang po kami hindi commercial building [smiling face with tear emoji]."

(I didn't want to join [the fray], but I almost collapsed at seeing my Meralco bill. I am super conscious when using electricity. We're just a house, not a commercial building.)

It was the caption for a photo of her June 2026 Meralco bill showing the total amount due of P94,355.21.

Meralco earlier said higher demand during the hot season can result in higher power bills.

The power distributor also earlier raised rates by 53 centavos per kilowatt-hour for April 2026, resulting in an increase of about P106 in the monthly bill of a typical household consuming 200 kWh.

Last month, Meralco also addressed mounting concerns and criticisms arising from electric bill shocks recently experienced by its customers.

“We would like to reiterate that electricity rates in the Philippines, not just Meralco’s, reflect the true cost of power as these do not have government subsidies unlike those in our neighboring countries,” Zaldarriaga said in a statement.

Zaldarriaga explained that majority of the costs go to generation charges, noting that these are affected by market forces, fuel prices, actual supply conditions, and foreign exchange movements.

Nevertheless, he said the power distribution utility remains fully committed to transparency, adding that Meralco’s customer bills are “unbundled” to “clearly show where every peso goes — from generation, transmission, and system loss charges, to taxes and other government-mandated charges.”

“Most of which are pass-through costs,” the Meralco spokesperson said.

Zaldarriaga noted that Meralco’s own distribution charge “accounts for only around 12% on average of the total customer bill.”

This June, Meralco also raised its household rate.

This brought the overall household rate up to P14.4833 per kWh for June from P14.3345 per kWh in May.

The upward adjustment could translate to a P29.76 increase in this month's bill of a typical household consuming 200 kWh. —KG, GMA News