MANILA, Philippines -- Actress Judy Ann Santos took another broadside Thursday for the radio and television advertisement justifying why the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) passes on its systems loss to consumers, this time from veteran Senator Juan Ponce Enrile.

"Ang hirap naman kay Judy Ann, di niya naintindihan pinasukan nya. Kawawa naman [That's the problem with Judy Ann, she entered something she doesn't understand. Poor her]," Enrile said.

In the ad, Santos compares electricity to ice that melts as it is transferred from store to store to illustrate why the systems loss is charged to consumers.

Santos is a contract artist of the ABS-CBN network, owned by the Lopez family, which also owns majority shares of Meralco.

Enrile, in an interview over radio station dzBB, said electricity cannot be compared to ice because electricity is delivered straight to the consumer's home while ice is bought at the ice plant.

A better analogy, he said, is ice delivered to the consumer's house. He said systems losses would be reduced significantly if the delivery truck is well-insulated and properly sealed.

In any case, Enrile said, the consumer pays only for the ice, not the water that has melted during the delivery.

"Sa kuryente, may nawawala na bago dumating yung ipinagbibili, pero sinisingil [With electricity, some is already lost even before it reaches the consumer, and yet this is still charged to the user]," he said.

"Dapat kung anong naiwan sa yelo yun ang binabayaran. Sa kuryente, ang hirap ngayon, inimbak yun ang binabayaran ng tao kahit lusaw na [Consumers should pay only for the ice that is left. The problem with electricity is that people pay for what is no longer there]," he added.

Enrile, who authored the amendments to the Electric and Power Industry Reform Act which are being debated in the Senate, said power distributors should bring down systems losses and stranded costs -- or unused electricity -- should not be allowed.