Catanduanes ‘severe’ power woes flagged

LEGAZPI CITY, Albay, Philippines — The island province of Catanduanes continues to endure prolonged rotational brownouts, with residents now experiencing up to eight hours of daily power interruptions, prompting a lawmaker to seek congressional intervention.

TGP (Talino at Galing ng Pinoy) party-list Rep. Jose Teves Jr. urged the panel to address the worsening power situation and compel concerned agencies to present concrete solutions.

Teves said the province’s electricity situation worsened from January to April 2026, starting with three-hour daily brownouts that later increased to five-hour outages three times a day, “severely affecting” residents, particularly children and the elderly.

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“With this situation, children and the elderly are suffering and are the most affected,” Teves said in a May 22 letter to House Special Committee on Bicol Affairs and Economic Development chair Eulogio Rodriguez, noting the impact of prolonged outages on households across the province.

Teves warned that continued inaction could trigger wider economic consequences affecting businesses and basic services and urged the committee to invite energy officials to explain interventions and long-term plans.

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The appeal comes ahead of the committee’s fifth regular meeting on Tuesday at the House of Representatives, where briefings by the Department of Public Works and Highways and the Department of Budget and Management on Bicol infrastructure and budget matters are also scheduled.

Supply agreement

Meanwhile, Catanduanes’ power situation further deteriorated after the termination of the Energy Purchase and Supply Agreement with the Department of Energy on May 15.

Residents are now experiencing around eight hours of daily brownouts due to the nonoperation of five generator sets of the supplier Sunwest Water and Electric Company Inc.

The National Electrification Administration (NEA) also disapproved First Catanduanes Electric Cooperative Inc.’s (Ficelco) resolution awarding an 8-megawatt emergency power supply deal to S.C. Megaworld Construction and Development Corp., citing procurement violations and added burden on consumers.

NEA ordered the rescission of the award and directed Ficelco to proceed with the compliant bidder under competitive selection rules. /cb /atm