Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 4) — Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas blames the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) for the power outages being experienced in parts of Western Visayas since Tuesday.
“For the three days that we are going to suffer these brownouts due to the incompetence of NGCP, Iloilo City is going to lose ₱1.5 billion,” Treñas told CNN Philippines’ The Source on Thursday.
NGCP has said the incident was caused by the unscheduled maintenance shutdown and the tripping of multiple power plants. But Treñas said this is not acceptable as this was also the reason the agency cited when the April 2023 power outage happened.
Last year, Panay Island also experienced days of widespread power outage due to system disturbances that affected the Visayas grid.
Treñas said these problems were due to NGCP’s failure to improve transmission lines.
\”The multiple trippings of the power plants in Iloilo were caused by the unstable transmission lines of the NGCP coming from Negros to Panay. It should be noted that under the conditions that NGCP has agreed, these transmission lines would have been developed and improved a long time ago,\” he pointed out.
The mayor said NGCP has also yet to establish the transmission lines from Luzon passing through Batangas, Mindoro, and Panay.
\”I think that this thing is going to happen more often until such time when NGCP decides to forgo some of their dividends and spend on the improvement of these transmission lines,\” Treñas said.
He urged lawmakers to investigate the matter. He said he already reached out to a congressman and a senator to have a probe launched.
Treñas also called for the involvement of the Department of Energy, the Energy Regulatory Commission, and the Office of the President in the process.
Sen. Raffy Tulfo, chairman of the Committee on Energy, said he will file a resolution calling for an investigation into the power outage and to hold those behind this issue accountable.
Senator Win Gatchalian also said he will immediately file a resolution to investigate the matter and to propose policy recommendations to prevent supply disruptions.
\”Iloilo City and the Panay Island are economic drivers of the Visayas area. Power supply disturbances should never happen as businesses will suffer tremendous financial losses,\” Gatchalian added.
Iloilo business groups have issued a joint statement expressing their support for the proposed investigation. The Philippine Chamber of Commerce Inc. (PCCI)-Iloilo also pushed for a collaborative approach to come up with innovative solutions to the problems.
“This could involve infrastructure upgrades, improved maintenance schedules, or exploring alternative energy sources where feasible,” it said.
