WORK GOES ON | Linemen of Occidental Mindoro Electric Cooperative (Omeco) are hard at work clearing power lines of obstructions in areas in Sta. Cruz town, in this photo posted on the Omeco Facebook page on April 17, in preparation for the rainy season even as the power cooperative is having difficulty meeting the demand of its consumers. (Photo from the Facebook page of Omeco)
MANILA, Philippines — The National Electrification Administration (NEA) has promised to resolve the energy crisis in Occidental Mindoro in three weeks and has sought the permission of the Department of Energy (DOE) to allow the emergency purchase of generator sets from Singapore to be used in the province, Sen. Raffy Tulfo said on Sunday.
Tulfo, who chairs the Senate energy committee, said in a statement that the information came from NEA administrator Antonio Almeda, whom he spoke to over the weekend, in a bid to resolve the energy shortage in Occidental Mindoro, which had resulted in the daily 20-hour power outage in the province.
“During the briefing with Almeda, he asked that he be given three weeks to find a concrete solution to this problem,” Tulfo said.
The lawmaker said he had already sought an audience with President Marcos, who has yet to deliver on his campaign promise to solve the lack of supply of electricity in Occidental Mindoro.
Emergency meeting
According to Tulfo, his committee held an emergency meeting with several national and local government officials on April 5 to discuss the dwindling energy supply in the province.
He said it was agreed then that Occidental Mindoro Electric Cooperative (Omeco) would pass a board resolution asking the NEA to approve a P5-million loan to finance the purchase of bunker fuel to immediately provide an additional energy source.
The NEA, he added, had asked the DOE to issue a certificate of exemption to allow the agency to enter into emergency power supply agreements with private suppliers.
“When this happens,” Tulfo said, “they will be able to secure modular [generator sets] from Singapore that can generate up to 17 megawatts (MW).”
In addition, Tulfo said the NEA had requested the transfer from Mindanao of four modular generators, each with a capacity of 2 MW, as temporary sources of electricity.
Rotational power schedule
He said the NEA had likewise approached DMCI Power Corp. to divert at least 5 MW to Occidental Mindoro from the power it is supplying to the adjacent province of Oriental Mindoro.
“This [additional power supply] will immediately provide an extra four hours of electricity per day in Occidental Mindoro,” Tulfo added.
Omeco, on its Facebook page, has been announcing a daily rotational power schedule in the province, with a cluster of towns or sections of these municipalities, including the capital Mamburao, only getting electricity for three-and-a-half hours.
In the towns of San Jose and Sablayan, for example, Omeco announced that on Monday, electricity would only be available in some parts of the towns from 12:30 a.m. to 4 a.m.; and from 4:30 a.m. to 8 a.m. in the other areas of San Jose and Sablayan and in the towns of Magsaysay, Rizal and Calintaan.
Officials of Sablayan on Friday released an open letter decrying the daily power outages that they said was tantamount to an economic sabotage and a human rights violation.