Power supply to Ecija town cut off amid fund mess

CABANATUAN CITY—Despite being host to a hydropower dam, Pantabangan town has been suffering from a power blackout for three days now after First Gen Hydro Power Corp. (FGHPC) cut its supply on Monday due to the town government’s failure to pay P80 million in power bills since 2007.

While residents have to endure the inconvenience as a result of the power supply disruption, local officials were insisting that they should not be blamed for the mess.

“All I can say is it’s not our fault,” said Mayor Romeo Borja Sr. He, however, said local officials are negotiating with FGHPC so power can be restored to the town soon.

Most areas in the town are serviced by the local government-run Pantabangan Municipal Electric Service (Pames), a power distributor that gets power supply from FGHPC. The 132-megawatt Pantabangan-Masiway hydroelectric complex is owned and run by FGHPC.

In a statement, FGHPC said it cut off power supply to Pames after it failed to settle its arrears despite several negotiations.

FGHPC said its efforts to collect from Pames since 2007 remained unheeded. It sent a disconnection notice to Pames on Feb. 8 this year, but it was held off after Borja appealed to the firm for an extension.

FGHPC, in a bulletin issued on Tuesday, said its decision to finally cut off power supply to Pames was triggered by Pames’ failure to make the scheduled payment of P7 million on June 30.

“We were constrained to take such measure after Pames, once again, failed to honor its obligations under the terms of a March 16, 2012, restructuring agreement to settle the more than P80 million it owes to the power generating firm,” FGHPC said.

Businessman Gerardo Sator, 48, said he was both happy and sad with what happened in their town.

“We are happy because Pantabangan residents were able to prove that there is mismanagement, especially about the handling of funds, in our town,” said Sator, a member of the group, “La Solidaridad,” which has been vocal about alleged anomalies in the town.

Sator said the situation is ironic because Pantabangan is considered a premiere town in Nueva Ecija because of its high revenue, owing to taxes being paid by California Energy, which operates Casecnan Multipurpose Irrigation and Power Project.

Sator said eight of 14 villages in the town are suffering from the power cutoff.

He said the town of Alfonso Castañeda in Nueva Vizcaya also gets its supply from Pames. “Residents there are planning to hold a rally because of the power cutoff. They have been paying their electric bills regularly,” he said.

“Our residents are suffering although they have been religiously paying their electric bills,” he said.

Sator, who is engaged in soft drink distribution, said businesses and water supply in the town have been disrupted by the power blackout.

Amante Miranda, 58, a resident, said some of his town mates were leaving the town center to go to the border villages, like Cambitala, which are getting their electricity from Nueva Ecija Electric Cooperative II.