MANILA, Philippines ? (UPDATE) President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has decided not to call for a special session of Congress to tackle the power crisis in Mindanao.

But the President did not say how the government would resolve the power crisis.

?Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes will take care of the details,? was all she told reporters who interviewed her after she attended a CAT graduation ceremony at San Sebastian College in Manila.

Ms Arroyo's remark drew alarm from Senator Francis Escudero who issued a statement on Ms Arroyo's ?possible bypassing of Congress? on the matter.

?If she does so, then that will make the contracts she entered into voidable,? Escudero said in a text message.

?I warn possible suppliers of the inherent illegality of such contracts,? the senator added.

The President said last week that she had adopted the recommendations of Reyes to declare a power crisis in Mindanao, which has been suffering from rotating blackouts due to low water levels at hydroelectric plants as a result of the dry spell.

Reyes earlier said that the Department of Energy was not asking for emergency powers for Arroyo but would want Congress to convene and lift a prohibition in the Electric Power Industry Reform Act so government could get back into the business of generating and selling electricity.

The energy department particularly wanted the state-owned National Power Corp. (Napocor) to lease modular generation sets to help provide 160 megawatts (MW) of electricity to Mindanao. Brownouts lasting up to several hours have been plaguing major cities on the island.

But congressional leaders said it would be impossible for them to convene a special session because lawmakers have been busy campaigning for the May elections.

Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Gary Olivar said on Monday the President was no longer calling for a special session because Congress would not be able to muster a quorum.

Palace officials were tight-lipped on how the government would be able to tackle the power crisis in Mindanao without Congress' help.

Olivar said Reyes would be in ?the best position? to answer these queries.

Even without special authority from the Congress, the Department of Energy has begun exploring other stop-gap measures that would enable it to address the worsening power shortage in Mindanao.

In a phone interview over the weekend, Reyes said these measures could be implemented without the need to allow Napocor to again generate and sell electricity.

Reyes earlier said his department was preparing to implement a supply-augmentation program in which big industrial firms or commercial enterprises that generate their own electricity would be tapped to sell their excess capacity.

During peak hours, the industrial and commercial firms may also be asked to use their own generating sets instead of using electricity from the Mindanao grid, for which they will be compensated.

Reyes earlier said that they have begun asking the different power generators and the project proponents to inform the government if the projects could be fast-tracked and when the additional capacities could be made available.

?Also, we are continuing our information education campaign on energy conservation and energy efficiency,? Reyes added.

The energy chief, however, could not commit that such measures alone would be enough to ensure adequate power supply before, during and after the May 10 elections.

Mindanao, in particular, has been badly hit by the El Niño weather disturbance, which caused water levels in the dams to recede fast. About 53 percent of Mindanao's power supply comes from hydroelectricity, making the country's second largest island particularly vulnerable to a prolonged dry season.

An NGCP official earlier said that without the special authority from Congress, the only other option government could implement would be load curtailment, wherein big industrial users and commercial centers would use their own generators at certain hours during the day.

?Or, the government could declare a holiday on the so-called crucial days relating to the elections, in such a way that these big businesses will not operate so that the electricity that they consume can be diverted instead to the precincts,? the official further explained.