Zubiri to DOE, NGCP: Get your acts together, stop rotational brownouts

Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri. FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri called on the Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NCGP) to “get their acts together” and respond to the power crises in Western Visayas.

“We are urging the DOE and the NGCP to sit down to discuss the situation and get their acts together. Kailangan nilang itigil itong rotational brownouts. Ang dami po nating kababayan ay nahihirapan dito,” said Zubiri in the Kapihan sa Manila Bay media forum on Wednesday.

(We are urging the DOE and the NGCP to sit down [and] discuss the situation and get their acts together. They need to end these rotational brownouts. So many of our countrymen are suffering because of these.)

Weeks of rotational brownouts ranging from 3-20 hours in Occidental Mindoro ended on April 28. The NGCP, however, announced that same day that it might conduct future “rotational power interruptions” because energy supplies may not be enough to power the six islands interconnected in the Visayas grid.

Zubiri stated that should they continue. Power outages would hinder industry productivity in affected regions and spur hesitations to invest in the country.

“Dami pong negosyong nagshushut down… talagang hirap na hirap po ang iba’t ibang mga negosyo, MSMEs lalo na po sa Western Visayas,” he said.

(Many businesses are shutting down… businesses and MSMEs are struggling, particularly in Western Visayas.)

“That’s a very productive area. Iloilo City is very productive. Negros is very productive. They cannot perform their function. How can you ask investors to come to the Philippines?” posed the senator.

While receiving daily updates from NCGP President Anthony Almeda, Zubiri said these “are mere excuses for what is happening.”

“We need to find the bottom of this… Ngayon naman kulang kuryente, maya-maya naman may system failure. That’s a poor excuse of running a facility. That is inefficiency,” said Zubiri.

(We need to find the bottom of this… Now, there’s a lack of electricity. Later, it was a system failure. That’s a poor excuse for running a facility. That is inefficiency.)

“So we have to make sure that the government now steps in. They can step in to make sure there is efficient and effective deployment of energy to the region,” he added, once again addressing the DOE.

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