ILOILO City – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has pledged to resolve the power crisis in Panay Island, which has been causing disruptions and risks to businesses, health, livelihoods, and the lives of residents.
“Accountability lies with the NGCP (National Grid Corporation of the Philippines). They are tasked with grid stability. Stability involves proactive responses to breakdowns and unexpected events – a duty that NGCP unfortunately has not fulfilled adequately,” lamented Marcos in an official statement released on Friday.
A widespread power interruption hit Panay and Guimaras islands and parts of Negros on Tuesday, Jan. 2 and this stretched up to yesterday afternoon Jan. 5.
Marcos emphasized the government’s commitment to addressing the situation and preventing similar crises in the future.
He reiterated his call from April 2023 to the NGCP for transparency with its stakeholders, utilities, and regulators.
“They must identify and address (weaknesses in the transmission system) as they are crucial for a resilient and stable power infrastructure,” according to Marcos.
The President also instructed the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to complete the reset of NGCP rates promptly, ensuring NGCP compliance with statutory and regulatory obligations, and to “defend in no uncertain terms against any attempt to defer, delay or prevent the implementation of regulatory measures.”
“While power has been restored, the situation has cost significant hardship to our people, crippling businesses, compromising livelihoods and endangering those in need of healthcare. Nakapalaki ang naging lugi ng lahat ng mga negosyo sa Panay Island, sa coverage area ng mga nag-brownout,” said Marcos.
He noted that the NGCP had a critical two-hour window to prevent the system collapse, as pointed out by the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines Inc. (IEMOP).
NGCP’s failure to implement manual load dropping during this period led to the crisis, he said.
This was not the first such blackout, the President pointed out, referring to a similar incident in April 2023 in Panay. This event led to an examination of NGCP’s performance and underscored the need to complete the Panay-Negros-Cebu interconnection by August 2023.
Marcos expressed disappointment over the delay in completing the Mindanao-Visayas-Panay-Negros-Cebu interconnection.
“The NGCP assured us that the Visayas grid has sufficient capacity, assuring timely completion of the Mindanao-Visayas-Panay-Negros-Cebu interconnection. However, we find ourselves in January 2024 far from the promise completion date of August 2023,” he said.
Meanwhile, the President recognized the contributions of distribution utilities and electrical cooperatives in addressing the critical power needs in hospitals and emergency facilities.
He stressed that NGCP’s failure to act during the crucial window was a missed opportunity, and as a system operator, it must proactively engage with distribution utilities and cooperatives to manage loads and prevent system collapses.
Iloilo City’s Mayor Jerry Treñas welcomed President Marcos’ assurances.
“I am grateful…The President empathizes with the Ilonggos,” he said.
Treñas said the completion of the Cebu-Negros- Panay transmission lines should have been done a long time ago and this failure, he said, resulted in the breakdown of the power plants in Panay Island.
“It’s about time NGCP is held accountable for its failures and incompetence. On behalf of the people of Iloilo City, madamo gid nga salamat Presidente Marcos,” said Treñas./PN
