The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Museum in Camp Aguinaldo needs to settle PHP1.37-million worth of unpaid electricity dues or close down.
“I received a disconnection notice. Supposed to be, the first one was on Jan. 25. It stated that the date of disconnection is on Jan. 29. On Jan. 27, I received another communication from the AFP but this time, it’s a notice of diconnection but the tone of the letter is a demand letter,” recounted AFP Museum administrator Elizabeth Dapiton to Alexis Romero of Philstar.com.
She said they were given five working days to pay in order to avoid disconnection, and the Armed Forces of the Philippines has refused to shoulder the unpaid bills since the AFP Museum is only considered a tenant in Camp Aguinaldo.
Dapiton claimed that they had a verbal agreement with the AFP upon the museum’s foundation in 1996 that the military organization would subsidize its expenses on utilities. However, it started billing them on their power consumption since November 2013.
The AFP Museum spends around PHP40,000 to PHP50,000 every month for electricity. They charge visitors an entrance fee of PHP20, but Dapiton said this is not enough to sustain their operations.
“We really cannot pay because once we pay, we will only depend on the dividend income that we get from our capital, our endowment fund. The cash donations are geared for specific projects,” said Dapiton.
The AFP Museum, which displays thousands of military items from the pre-colonial period to the 2013 Zamboanga crisis, is a non-profit, non-stock entity under the Armed Forces of the Philippines Museum and Historical Library Foundation Inc. and is not considered part of the military organization.
