House young guns back automatic 4Ps electricity subsidy

The so-called House Young Guns — Deputy Speaker Paolo Ortega, Deputy Speaker Jay Khonghun, Congressman Zia Alonto Adiong, and Congressman Ernix Dionisio — on Monday expressed their support for President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s landmark reforms to the Lifeline Rate Subsidy Program (LRSP), particularly the groundbreaking policy making electricity subsidy automatic for families enrolled in the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).

They strongly welcomed the President’s directive to simplify and modernize the program’s rules, as these enhancements ensure that eligible low-income and marginalized households receive their lifeline electricity subsidy without the need for separate applications or lengthy verification processes.

The young lawmakers said that by automatically extending the benefit to all qualified 4Ps households, the administration has eliminated major barriers, allowing subsidies to reach beneficiaries faster, more reliably, and with far less red tape.

They stressed that making the lifeline subsidy automatic for 4Ps families represents a powerful step toward genuine social protection and poverty alleviation.

Many of the country’s poorest households continue to grapple with high electricity costs that consume a large portion of their limited income. This policy change delivers immediate and meaningful relief by ensuring that the subsidy is no longer something families must actively apply for or chase after—it now arrives as an automatic entitlement for those already identified as among the most vulnerable through the 4Ps.

“This is a true game-changer under President Marcos’ leadership,” the lawmakers declared in their joint statement. “By making the lifeline subsidy automatic for 4Ps households, we are cutting through bureaucracy so help reaches exactly where it is needed most—without delay and without hassle. We fully support this initiative to shield our poorest families from energy poverty while opening doors to renewable energy solutions that can transform lives in the long run.”

The President was commended by the group for his unwavering focus on pro-poor, people-centered governance and noted that these reforms build seamlessly on earlier efforts to bring tangible, direct benefits to marginalized communities.

With this, they called on the Department of Energy, electric cooperatives, and other implementing agencies to ensure the swift and smooth rollout of the automatic subsidy mechanism, and urged all 4Ps households to confirm their enrollment status so they can immediately benefit from the program.