By Ruth Abbey Gita-Carlos | Philippine News Agency
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Wednesday ordered the deployment of at least two emergency generator sets (gensets) from Palawan to Siquijor to address the prevailing power crisis in the province.
Marcos gave the directive, after his inspection of the power plant operated by the Siquijor Island Power Corporation (SIPCOR) in Siquijor town.
In an interview, Marcos said the power supply deficiencies are expected, considering the deteriorating condition of the power plant.
“The gensets are arriving tonight or tomorrow. So, pagka naikabit na ’yon at napaandar na ’yon, kumpleto na ang suplay. But this is a temporary [solution]. That will be a temporary solution,” he said.
“We have given ourselves a deadline of six months for the short-term solution. By six months from now, we will then impose whatever new arrangements that we have to do, so that six months from now, we do not have to resort to emergency genset.”
Marcos said he is “serious” in looking for “permanent” solutions to address the power outages in Siquijor and meet the province’s growing electricity demand.
He said SIPCOR must do its part in addressing the power crisis.
“The assessment is that SIPCOR has to come up with [a solution], live up to [its] commitments. Maraming kakulangan. We have to repair damage that has been caused by the collapse of the power supply, and that is the schedule we have given ourselves—six months. Six months from now, we will guarantee that there will be a long-term solution,” Marcos said.
Asked if the government is open to the idea of tapping another power supplier, Marcos said “everything is on the table.”
“We just have to examine what is the best solution. We have some very good ideas na. The administrator is here and he has put out a framework on what we need to attend to, what would come first, etc. We will give you more detail after the detailed planning for that,” he said.
“The victims of this situation are the ordinary people of Siquijor, and they cannot go about their business, ‘yon pa naman Siquijor is growing so quickly at nagiging tourist destination na ang Siquijor. We are losing, they are losing that opportunity to develop dahil nga dito sa kakulangan ng kuryente.”
Marcos has ordered a full investigation into SIPCOR amid the long-standing power supply issues in Siquijor.
