Probe into Panay Island power woes pushed in Senate

Senator Grace Poe. Senate PRIB file photo

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Grace Poe is calling for an inquiry into the power supply troubles in Panay Island.

Poe filed Senate Resolution 579 on Tuesday, May 2, urging the appropriate committee to probe into the power situation in Panay Island “with the end in view of ensuring continuous supply of electricity to consumers.”

“Recurring power interruptions and massive blackouts have plagued Panay Island for several years now and severely impacted not only the daily lives of the people of Panay but also the economic activities in the region,” Poe said.

The senator underscored the urgent need to pin down the cause of the grid disturbances, implement immediate remedies, and determine the persons responsible “to finally put an end to the blame-shifting” between the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) and the distribution utilities and spot possible franchise violations.

“There is also a need to look into long-term solutions to these power interruptions and outages within the backdrop of the ‘thin’ supply of power in the Visayas grid,” Poe said.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has ordered the NGCP to “immediately address the power crisis” in Western Visayas after the region suffered from massive blackouts last week.

The Presidential Communications Office said Marcos directed the NGCP “to synchronize the protection relays of transmission, generation and distribution” in the next two weeks to avoid power disruptions.

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JPV