Military not to proceed with plans to cut AFP Museum's power supply

From the Philippine News Agency (Feb 2): Military not to proceed with plans to cut AFP Museum's power supply

The Armed Forces of the Philippines will not go ahead with its plan to cut the power supply of the AFP Museum in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City.

"I coordinated with the AFP Headquarters Support Command head, Brig. Gen. Vicente Yordan, and the (power supply) disconnection will not proceed," AFP public affairs office chief Col. Noel Detoyato said in Filipino on Tuesday.

The AFP Museum was originally scheduled to have its power cut on Wednesday after racking up Php1.3 million arrears in its payments of electrical services.

Detoyato did not give reasons for the reprieve nor how long it would last.

"We are aware of the importance of the role of the AFP Museum and the foundation running it, that is why the Command is willing to sit down with them to jointly find a solution to alleviate the present situation," he said.

The AFP Museum's Php1.3-million worth of arrears started accumulating from November 2013 up to December 2015.

Originally, when the facility was established in 1996, there was a verbal agreement between military leaders then and founders of the museum that the AFP will be subsidizing the utilities.

Elizabeth Dapiton, AFP Museum administrator, said the agreement was inked during the time of AFP chief-of-staff Gen. Arturo Enrile.

"When the museum started way back in 1996, there was a verbal agreement that the AFP will be subsidizing the utilities of the museum. So it went on until late in 2013, to be specific in November, when they started billing the museum for our consumption of electricity," she added.

Since the AFP Museum was created not for profit, Dapiton said they are having a hard time to raise funds to pay for their day-to-day operations.

She added that the average monthly electrical consumption of the AFP Museum is Php40,000 to Php50,000.

Disconnection notices were served last Jan. 25, 27 and 29, with the AFP Museum being given five working days to come up with the payment.

"We really cannot pay... We only depend on the dividend income that we get from our capital endowment fund, and even when there are cash donations, those are geared for specific projects, for example, we do get our regular support from the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office but the funding that they give us is for a specific project," Dapiton pointed out.

Once the power supply is cut, there is danger that molds will start growing on the various uniforms and documents stored in the museum.

Dapiton said the Php20 fee they are charging from every visitor at the AFP Museum is not enough to bail them out.

Asked why the AFP started billing them in 2013, after more than 16 years of subsidizing their electrical bills, Dapiton said the military decided to consider them as "concessionaires" or "tenants."

"We’re using their place, we’re in their land, (and in return) we have to pay for the utilities," she added.

Although the facility is under the AFP Museum and Historical Library Foundation Inc., it is not under the AFP plantilla and could not get operating funds from the military.

"We are (acting as) the repository of the collections of the AFP, and in a way with their displays and exhibits here we are giving them a good image to the students, we’re marketing them to the students," Dapiton said.

The AFP Museum is home to pre-colonial, revolutionary and modern-day weapons, insignias, decorations and uniforms of the Filipino military. It is also host to various revolutionary letters and documents.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=853102