MANILA, Philippines -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo again urged people to support the government?s petitions to reduce the rates charged by the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), which the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) is set to deliberate Tuesday.

"Kailangan ang suporta ng lahat para sa iba't iba nating petisyon sa [ERC] upang ibaba ng Meralco ang singil [The support of everyone is needed for our different petitions before the ERC for Meralco to bring down its rates]," the President said in her opening statement at a meeting of the Cabinet.

Earlier, Arroyo had ordered the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to file several petitions with the ERC.

The petitions seek, among others, to make Meralco ensure preferential treatment for households and power-intensive industries in the distribution of Transco (National Transmission Corp.) charges; remove systems loss as a separate item charged to Meralco consumers; and to impose the same distribution charge as other utilities and electric cooperatives that charge lower rates.

She also directed the DTI's consumer protection bureau to ask the ERC to compel Meralco to buy from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market during non-peak hours, when it is cheaper, instead of during peak hours.

Arroyo said Meralco could lower its rates if it buys ?mas murang kuryente sa sarili niyang [cheaper electricity from its own] power producer," Arroyo said in the statement released by Malacañang.

Meanwhile Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said the President is taking measures, that "will help alleviate the sufferings of our people," including reducing electricity rates

"We need mitigating measures, and among them [is] how can we address the rising prices of commodity and, for example, decrease prices of power. And it's very, very important," Ermita told reporters.