Price of Convenience?
UP Dorm tenants demand transparency over fluctuating, unexplained utility fees
by Lian Gabrielle Inlong
With just a few days left before the semester ends, UP Manila (UPM) Dormitory and Phi House Dormitory residents raised concerns on the transparency of utility bills after continuous hikes in both electricity and water fees were seen during the first semester of the academic year.
Several students manifested their confusion on how their bills, especially on electricity, amounted to such high prices in comparison to the previous semester.
A fourth-year BS Pharmaceutical Sciences student from the UPM Dormitory shared that she and her four roommates questioned how their electricity amounted to P4,000. She found it “impossible” to consume that much, as their air conditioner is only running at night and most of them are on campus during the day. Only one person stays in their dorm during the day, using only a fan and light.
“Sa bill namin, rent, kuryente, at tubig lang kasi ‘yong nakalagay. Maganda sana kung ipapaalam sa amin kung ano ba breakdown nito at kung shouldered din ba ng dormers ‘yong kuryente ng shared spaces kasi hindi namin alam kung sino ang nagshshoulder noon,” her roommate added, a third-year student from the same degree program.
The same incident was recalled by a third-year BA Political Science student lodging in the UP Manila Dormitory.
“Personally, we had an issue with our energy consumption which climbed dramatically to P1,000 per person in our four-person bedroom. When we raised this sa [administration], nagsabi sila na nagtaas din daw ang Meralco that time. Ni-raise din ito ng roommate ko to double-check the meter readings, [ang sinabi ay] may mali raw and nagbago ‘yung electric bill. What I’m wondering about is sila yata ang nag-[babasa] ng meter namin per room,” the student explained.
In the Phi House Dormitory, another fourth-year BS Pharmaceutical Sciences student noted paying P1,500 per tenant in their four-person room despite minimal energy use. She also mentioned that most lights in their room are non-functional and have not been addressed by the management, which does not explain their electricity bill for October.
“Since naka-meter, sinabi naman nila ‘yon na naka-meter, bakit hindi ibigay sa amin ‘yong mismong bill sana ng electricity para sana makita namin. Kaya nga kami nag-UP dorm ‘eh kasi nga money is a problem kaya as much as possible binabawasan namin ‘yong consumption namin,” a second-year BS Public Health student and UP Dorm resident shared.
The tenants also cited that there was an increase in their water bills too, but this was overshadowed by their inflated electricity bills.
Mary Mae Bico, Phi House Dormitory manager, explained that when students raise concerns about their bills, they are shown both their previous billing and present billing statements. She said that pictures of submeters are taken for record-keeping purposes and provided to students upon request.
Ma. Diane Monique Hijosa, UPM Dormitory manager, detailed the electricity rates computation: the previous billing amount is subtracted from the present billing amount and is multiplied by the per kilowatt-hour rate which will then be divided by the number of room occupants.
She also explained that water bills are recorded from the submeters and are processed via the Maynilad bill calculator in their official website.
Juliet Alava-Baytos, Auxiliary Services Program (ASP) scholarship affairs officer, clarified that both the UPM Dormitory and the Phi House Dormitory have separate Meralco accounts, and rooms are read by submeters, meaning that each dormitory receives only one bill that contains all the submeter readings of the entire building.
Alava-Baytos assured that students may request a breakdown of their bill through the Committee on Student Welfare (CSW).
When asked if their concerns were raised directly to the administration, the tenants confirmed but said that no proper feedback was given.
Alava-Baytos added that when electricity or water consumption is abnormally high, dormitory managers approach the students, and the administration requests a job order from the Campus Planning Development and Maintenance Office (CPDMO) to check for issues with the submeters.
Both dormitories are said to be under the semi-business category of the Meralco as of October 2024 after the Phi House Dormitory’s transition from being under the commercial category, which may be a factor in the increase of rates.
According to the CPDMO, electricity in UPM has a P15 per kilowatt-hour fixed rate, which serves as the unchanging base rate to which electricity is computed regardless of the fluctuations with Meralco’s typical P11–13 per kilowatt-hour rate.
Since its establishment in 2020 and resumption of operations in 2022, the UPM Dormitory has not changed systematically in terms of management and fees has always been divided among room occupants equally.
When the Phi House Dormitory was still managed by third-party entity, fees charged to students were only for the number of days of their stay in the dormitory but since its transition to the UPM’s administration during Chancellor Michael Tee’s first year due to issues in management, it now follows the same rules of the UPM Dormitory.
To this day, the dormitories’ billing is based on the 2016 Schedule of Utilities-Based Rental Charges guidelines and has not changed since. An updated version of the guideline is yet to address student concerns.
Both the UPM Dormitory and the Phi House Dormitory are home to students from different parts of the country and are of great assistance to students who cannot afford the cost of living in a city like Manila but when issues like these arise, the supposed affordability of in-campus dormitories is put into question.
Students and residents of the dormitories continue to carry the call for transparency on dormitory fees as well as a pro-student approach from the administration in addressing these issues.
