MANILA, Philippines — Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said Wednesday that the power plants that are delayed in delivering the expected new power supply should be penalized.
Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate committee on energy, cited two reasons for the low energy reserve that Metro Manila is currently experiencing, which resulted in the unexpected power outages: the delay in the new power supply and red tape.
“Maraming planta na dapat pumasok ay hindi pa pumapasok. Na-delay (There are power plants that are supposed to start operations but were delayed,” Gatchalian said in a Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum.
He said about 600 megawatts (MW) of energy are expected to enter the system.
“Nasaan na yung 600 MW na ‘yun? Hindi natin alam dahil nga itong mga planta na dapat pumasok ay hindi pumapasok (Where is the 600 MW? We don’t know because these power plants were delayed),” the senator said.
He said power plants that fail to deliver new power supply on time should be penalized.
“Kung mayroon mang planta na gusto magtayo at magpprovide ng bagong supply ng kuryente, at hindi sila pumasok on time, dapat may penalty (Power plants that are supposed to provide new power supply but failed to deliver on time should incur penalties),” Gatchalian said.
“Dahil kung walang penalty, nasisira yung forecasting ng ating gobyerno (If we do not impose penalties, the government’s forecast will be affected),” he added.
“Ang importante ngayon ay magkaroon tayo ng reporma para matanggal ang red tape at ipenalize yung mga plantang hindi nagiging ontime yung pagdeliver nila ng bagong supply,” Gatchalian further said.
(The important thing now is to introduce reforms to eradicate red tape and penalize power plants that fail to deliver power supply on time.) /ee