Pay your Meraco bill online, Introduting the e-meralco bill

For our fellow kabayan who are working abroad and wants to monitor and make sure that their meralco bills are settled, Meralco has introduced the e-meralco bill. Just register at www.meralco.com.ph and enroll your account number to let you see your current and previous bills. If you are a holder of banknet (selected banks) account you can pay your bill online.

Meralco have many other options to pay your electric bill such as ATM payment, online banking and even via phone.

The following banks are included on Meralco tied up partners:

Automatic Debit Arrangement (ADA)

Authorize your bank to debit the bill amount from your account on the due date and remit the payment to Meralco. Visit your bank of account to enroll in this option.

Meralco bill payments are accepted thru the following accredited ADA Partners:

1. Allied Banking Corporation
2. Banco de Oro Universal Bank
3. Bank of the Philippine Islands
4. Citibank
5. Union Bank of the Philippines
6. United Coconut Planters Bank


Automatic Charging Arrangement (Credit Card)

Charge your bill to your credit card (issued in the Philippines). Call your credit card hotline to enroll in this option.

Meralco bill payments are accepted thru the following accredited Credit Card Institutions:

1. AIG Credit Card
2. American Express Credit Card
3. BDO MasterCard
4. BPI Credit Card
5. Citibank Card
6. Diner's Club Card
7. Metrobank Card
8. Security Bank Mastercard
9. Standard Chartered Credit Card
10. UnionBank Visa

Internet Banking


Avail of the convenience of a 24-hour payment service. Access your bank's INTERNET site, login to your account and transfer funds to pay your Meralco bill.

Meralco bill payments are accepted thru the INTERNET sites of the following accredited banks:

1. BancNet (selected member banks)
2. Banco de Oro Universal Bank
3. Bank of the Philippine Islands
4. China Banking Corporation
5. Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation
6. Philippine National Bank
7. Union Bank of the Philippines
8. United Coconut Planters Bank

Meralco Prepaid Metering System to put on test

Meralco will try a new billing scheme for electricity consumers that is similar to telecom prepaid scheme. This move is to promote saving electricity by being aware of the consumption inside the household. If a household is aware that their electricity is limited they will start to save just like what they are doing with their cellular phone. But are consumers ready for the consequence that if they run out of prepaid credit their home will be on darkness?

What are the advantages and disadvantages of this scheme?

Will there be any benefits for OFW who are sending money back home to pay for electricity? Or it will just be an additiona 8000-10000 pesos expense for the new electric meter?

Meralco to test prepaid metering this month

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines’ largest electric company will begin testing prepaid power metering, a move seen to cut pilferage, costs of which are partially shouldered by consumers.Approximately 100 households in a Metro Manila village will be involved in the dry-run for the system, a senior official of the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) said. Prepaid metering is currently being used in South Africa, China, and the United States. A similar prepaid metering technology is being used by customers of an electric cooperative in Leyte, Meralco first vice president and customer retail services head Roberto Almazora said. Although the meter is worth anywhere from P8,000 to P10,000, Almazora said that Meralco is still “exploring the use of several technologies." Among the technologies being considered is a scheme which will allow consumers to transfer their credits to another customer, just like prepaid mobile phone “loads." Last month, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) released proposed rules for the prepaid electricity scheme. Besides requiring prepaid customers to store at least two months’ worth of power consumption, the draft rules said that the applied rates “should be based on the previous month’s postpaid rates."The same rules also require distribution utilities to cover the cost of prepaid meters and that no deposits will be collected from users. - GMANews.TV

Missing Inshira Calauto went home

To those who are still sending and recieving this mail. Inshira Calauto went home safely. So don't forward the message anymore, but is it nice that you show your concern to your fellow kabayan.

Para sa lahat ng kaibigan at kapwa pilipino,

Tumawag po ang magulang ni Inshira Calauto sa SOS.org at Tulong Bayan para humingi ng tulong. Ang kanila pong dalagitang anak na ay nawawala simula pa nung Byernes, Jul 17.
Ang dalagitang si Inshira Calauto, ay estudyante ng IPSR. Kung matatandaan natin, si Inshira ang nanalong Ms OFW na ginanap nung Jul 10.
Ayon sa mga magulang, huling na contact ang cell phone ni Inshira nung hating gabi ng Byernes sa bandang Mursalat. Pagkatapos nun, wala na pong balita sa kanya.
Kung sino po ang may alam, narinig, pagdududa kung nasaan si Inshira, pakibigay lamang po ang information kay

Jay Evora 0507498743

Kung maari laman po, ipakalat ang panawagan na ito sa mga kapwa natin Pilipino

p.s. Pilipino ang ginamit na salita sa sulat na ito, dahil sa sensitibong dahilan.
telepono ng magulang ni Inshira

Peping Calauto0501652276

ipagdasal natin na sana mahanap at makita si Inshira na malayo sa kapahamakan

OFW sa abroad puwede ng maglibre ng Jollibee sa Pinas

Langhap sarap, Jollibee.

Libre ka naman ng Jollibee!

Not it is possible to for your to treat your friends and family with langhap sarap Jollibee. The tie up made by i-remit and Jollibee make it possible for our fellow OFW to buy and send Jollibee product to their love one back home.

MANILA - Bukod sa pinaghirapang kita sa abroad, puwede na ring magpadala ng mga pagkain ng isang sikat na food chain ang mga overseas Filipino worker (OFW) para sa kanilang mahal sa buhay na nasa Pilipinas.Naging posible ito dahil sa kasunduang nilagdaan ng I-Remit at Jollibee Foods Corp.Kahit nasa abroad ang OFW, maaari niyang ilibre o padalhan ng pagkaing produkto ng Jollibee ang kanyang pamilyang nasa Pilipinas sa pamamagitan ng pagpunta sa tanggapan ng I-Remit sa bansa na kanyang kinaroroonan.Sa foreign office ng I-Remit pipili ng produkto ng Jolibee ang OFW na nais niyang ipadala sa kanyang pamilya sa Pilipinas. Puwede na ring sagutin ng OFW at siya mismo ang pipili ng pagkain na nais niyang ihanda sa birthday party ng kanyang kapamilya.“The tie-up would break the barrier of distance by preserving family tradition," ayon kay Bansan C. Choa, chairman ng I-Remit Inc. “This project is not solely for great business proposition but it encourages preserving the values of family ties," idinagdag ng opisyal.Sa programa ng I-Remit at Jolibee na tinawag na “Salu-Salo Padala Treat Mula Sa iRemit,’ makasisiguro umano ang OFW na makararating sa kanyang pamilya sa Pilipinas ang nais niya ipadala sa kanyang pamilya.“Through this partnership, we can continue Jollibee's long tradition of promoting special bonding moments even for our hardworking Filipinos overseas," pahayag ni Ernesto Tanmantiong, presidente ng Jollibee.Sa kasalukuyan, ang I-Remit ay nasa 26 bansa at teritoryo, at may 4,000 payout stations na magagamit din sa pagpapadala ng remittance ng mga OFW.Kabilang sa mga bansa na may I-Remit center ay Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Austria, Taiwan, United Kingdom, at Canada.“By treating their loved ones in the Philippines with their favorite meals whether during special occasions or simple family gatherings, our OFWs can still contribute and be part of these family moments, even when they are miles away from home," ayon sa opisyal.Ang mga OFW ay maaaring pumili sa limang “Langhap Sarap" Family blowout packages na maaaring pagsaluhan ng limang tao na aabot ang presyo mula P800 hanggang P1,000.Ilan sa mga kombinasyon ng pagkain ay Spaghetti + yum with Cheese Treat; Chickenjoy + Yum with Cheese Treat; Chickenjoy Treat, Burgersteak Treat at; Chickenjoy + Spaghetti treat. - Ruby Anne Rubio, GMANews.TV

Ways to send money to Philippines Online

There are two common ways to send money back home to Philippines online, Western Union and xoom .

Although wester union is more popular and you can see it almost in every money exchange around the world. It's online services is a little bit limited than xoom. There are selected countries where you can use western union to send money back to Philppines. On the other hand xoom is more flexible and offers its service almost everywhere in the world.

Send money to Philippines online now using http://www.xoom.com/

Send money to Philippines online now using http://www.westernunion.com/

Ways to send SMS to Philippines for Pinoy Abroad

There are many ways to send SMS to Philippines for Pinoy abroads. Whether its cheap or free at all. Most of them require access to internet. Internet has gained its popularity that you can easily gain access to it publicly of in the comfort of your own household.

On top of the list will be www.Chikka.com , This is a very friendly messenger that allows you to send SMS back home for free and when your friends or family send you a reply message to your chikka account they will be charge for a very cheap price of 2.50 pesos which is nothing compare to 10-20 Pesos when you use the international Service of the Globe and Smart. The only disadvantage of chikka is it's limitation. If you will not receive any reply you have to wait for the next day to replenish your free text message.

If you are working in the middle east. www.160by.com is good for you. You can send SMS to Philippines and to your local place as well such as Kuwait and UAE.Service is totally free. The disadvantage of this service is that there is no reply facility, the other party need to reply to your international number or your roaming number.

How overseas Pinoys can register to vote in 2010

The Overseas Absentee Voting mechanism was implemented in the Philippines in 2003 to provide an opportunity for Filipinos abroad to exercise their right in electing the President, Vice President, Senators and one Party-list Representative. [Click on the image above to activate the interactive guide]

With over eight million of them scattered throughout the globe, overseas Filipinos could decide the result of the 2010 national elections. After Congress approved the OAV in 2003, about 300,000 Filipinos abroad registered to vote in the two-month registration period.

But this number dipped in 2006 when only 142,000 Filipinos in the 13-month registration period for the 2007 elections.

GMANews.TV prepared this short interactive primer as a guide for the Filipinos living and working abroad on the voting registration process for the 2010 national elections.

The OAV registration process opened in February 2009. The government has set a goal of 1 million OAV registrants by August 31, the last day of the registration period. Only 115,650 overseas Filipinos had signed up as of end-June.

This OAV primer is the first in a series of information materials that the Pinoy Abroad team is producing so that the voice of overseas Filipinos may be heard in the polls.