DOE admission of power reserve lack puts Palace on defensive
MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang on Tuesday maintained that it did not lie about the energy situation in the country despite the Department of Energy’s admission to lawmakers that the looming power shortage in 2015 will only be around 21 to 31 megawatts in the buffer supply.
Communication Secretary Herminio Coloma INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
“Sa lahat ng pagkakataon, ang Pangulo at ang Gabinete ay naging makatotohanan sa paglalahad ng sitwasyon at ng mga numero,” Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said at a Palace briefing.
(At all instances, the President and the Cabinet had been truthful in explaining the situation and giving out numbers pertaining to the energy supply.)
Coloma was unable to explain the disparity in numbers presented to the House of Representatives on Monday because he did not have the data with him but he insisted that the government has never lied to the public.
Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla earlier said the country would suffer a power shortfall of around 300 megawatts to 1,000 megawatts in the dry season of 2015. He said the crisis merits the granting of emergency powers for President Benigno Aquino III.
Aquino already requested Congress for a joint resolution on the said additional authority but lawmakers seem wary of the prospects of government contracting generating capacity.
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