ILOILO – The provincial government is contemplating a class action lawsuit against those responsible for the recent power blackouts affecting Panay Island, neighboring Guimaras Island, and parts of Negros.
“We are examining this option because it has caused significant harm to our people, including damage to households, businesses, and more,” said Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr.
Defensor plans to attend the Senate inquiry on the blackout on Jan. 10 and the House inquiry on Jan. 11. These hearings will focus on gathering data necessary for legal action and reviewing relevant energy laws, such as the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 (EPIRA), other related statutes, and the franchise of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).
“A class action suit is being considered because of the widespread damage. While the power laws are relevant, we’re also looking into the Civil Code provisions. However, we’ll first attend the congressional hearings to gain more insights,” said Defensor.
When asked if the NGCP would be the sole defendant in a potential lawsuit, Defensor said the outcome of the congressional hearings would guide this decision.
“We’ll see how things develop. Currently, the NGCP, as the operator of the grid, is at the center of our investigation. However, this could change depending on the findings from the Congress,” he said.
The governor emphasized the need to vindicate the damages suffered by our people, the province, the city, and the entirety of Panay, and to hold those responsible accountable.”
Defensor is scheduled to participate as a resource person in the Senate Committee on Energy’s hearing on Wednesday at 1 p.m. in the Senator Pecson Room, Senate Building, Pasay City, and in the House Committee on Energy’s inquiry on Thursday at 9:30 a.m. in Conference Rooms 3 and 4 of the Ramon V. Mitra Building at the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City.
Earlier, Defensor, along with Iloilo City’s Mayor Jerry Treñas, appealed to the Department of Energy (DOE) and Congress to use their authority to address the blackout issue in Panay Island, which is impeding economic growth and development in the region.
“We’ve requested the executive branch to hold the power sector accountable to prevent future occurrences. This issue is hindering the development of Iloilo City, Iloilo Province, and the entire Region 6, which affects the country’s overall development,” Defensor said at a press conference on Jan. 4.
The economic impact of the blackout on the province is still being assessed, but the governor noted that a formula is being developed to quantify its effect on businesses.
Defensor also called for a review of power utilities’ compliance with their franchise mandates, as well as NGCP’s adherence to five directives issued by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. following similar outages in April 2023.
These directives include updating stakeholders on the Visayas Grid status, synchronizing protection relays, expediting the Ancillary Services Procurement Agreement, ensuring grid stability, and completing the third phase of the Cebu-Negros-Panay (CNP) backbone project by March 2024.
The governor urged lawmakers to use their authority to enhance the energy sector, defining police power as the ability to prevent or stop societal harm, including power outages.
“Legislative action might be necessary to improve the power sector,” he added.
Defensor also implored the power sector to cooperate in preventing future crises. An emergency conference with the DOE, ERC, NGCP, Western Visayas governors, Iloilo mayors, and other stakeholders was convened on Thursday morning to address the blackout issues affecting Panay Island and other parts of Region 6 since Jan. 2.
During the meeting, the NGCP committed to completing the CNP3 project by March 2024. This project involves connecting Negros and Cebu with an overhead line from Bacolod City to San Carlos City, and then to Toledo City, Cebu, via a submarine cable. The entire CNP project includes constructing a 238km, 230kV capacity transmission line linking Cebu, Negros, and Panay, along with the expansion of several substations. (With a report from Capitol News)/PN
