Aquino acts to solve Mindanao power woes

President leads summit,
gives DOE chief order
for speedy solution

By MARIE-ALSIE G. PENARANDA
Special to Fil-Am Megascene

DAVAO CITY – President Benigno Aquino III has given the Department of Energy (DOE) the marching order to speedily solve the power problem in Mindanao but without jeopardizing the industry.

The President led the Mindanao Energy Summit in Davao City on Friday as Mindanao continue to suffer from daily brownouts due to power shortage and old power facilties and infrastructures.
In his speech at the summer, the President said there are investors willing to invest in Mindanao, but people in the region should accept a hike in electricity rates.
“How can you entice anyone to invest if their generating cost is more than their selling cost? The simple truth is, we can have a lot more energy but we have to provide the incentives for businesses to come here to put up those plants for there will be a change in how much have to pay. We will have to pay, perhaps a bit more,” Aquino said.
“Of our P1.8 trillion budget, only P400 billion is programmable. Can government pay for new plants and old loans and still provide the services and facilities you need? You have to pay more because this is the reality of economics, not the rhetoric of politics. Everything has its price, we have to pay for a real service. There are actually just 2 real choices, pay a little more for energy or live with a lack of energy and the continuation of rotating brownouts,” he added. 

 President Aquino assured that the government is committed to address the power situation in Mindanao through various initiatives that include the rehabilitation of decades-old power plants and the creation of a power monitoring committee composed of the major stakeholders in the sector.

“My dream is that by the time I step down in 2016, this energy situation will be one less worry in the minds of the Mindanaoans and investors in Mindanao alike – that by then, I can truthfully say that I left you in good hands,” the President stressed in his speech during the Mindanao Power Summit at the Waterfront Insular Hotel here.

President Aquino cited the much-needed efforts that will buttress the demand in energy of Mindanao. 

“We are setting aside almost 2.6 billion for large-scale rehabilitation of Agus (power plant) 6, which has been neglected for the past 59 years. This is a plant that was designed to operate for only thirty years, and yet we have used it for twice as long,” the President said.

“This rehabilitation is long overdue… we are also spending for the rehabilitation of Agus 2. We will not only restore these plants to installed capacity but improve their output due to advancements in technology. Thus, these plants will be able to produce an additional 79 megawatts,” he added.

The President also bared the approval by the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) of the Integrated Natural Resources and Environmental Management Program allocating some P7.24 billion for four river basins, two of which are in Mindanao, that will literally get the water flowing again.

The Chief Executive said that the government is considering the creation of a Power Monitoring Committee that will take responsibility of managing the prices of energy in the region.

“We are studying the formation of a Mindanao Power Monitoring Committee to be chaired by the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) with representatives from the Department of Energy, National Power Corporation, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines and others from the civil society, electric cooperatives and the business sector,” the President said.

He said that the government is looking for long term solutions to the issue that will benefit the lives of the next generations.

“I have said so many times and I say it again today – Mindanao must become not just the land of promise, but the land of fulfilled promises. That is why I’m here, not just to show all of you that we are focused on the problems you’re facing, but more importantly, that we don’t want your region to just get by these next one or two years, we want you to be a pillar of our economy in the coming decades,” he said.

Other officials aside from Secretary Almendras who accompanied the president were Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio “Sonny” B. Coloma Jr., Transportation and Communications Secretary Manuel Roxas II,  and Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz.

Also there were legislators from the region led by Senator Teofisto G. Guingona III, Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III and members of the Lower House.

The Energy Summit was conducted to provide opportunity for the key sectors and stakeholder representatives to present their respective issues and recommendations.

 Secretary Almendras  clarified that solving the power problem in Mindanao will not be a walk in the park.
He said certainly, there are solutions to the problem but these can’t be done overnight as there are several legal, technical, social, and economic issues that should be considered in implementing them.
“The instruction of the President is to solve the power problem as fast as we can and the best way that we can but to make sure the solutions will not jeopardize the power industry,” Almendras said.
He said the power industry stakeholders will present to President Aquino a consolidated recommendation on solving the power problem at the end of the Mindanao Power Summit on Friday at the Davao Waterfront Insular Hotel here.
It is also expected that Aquino will announce something very important in relation to solving the power problem in Mindanao, Almendras said.
Almendras said the energy sector will also present the technical dimension of the industry for the people to understand why there is power shortage, “because there are some people who are showing that there is no power shortage.” Earlier, the Energy department said there was a 200-megawatt (MW) power shortage in Mindanao.
“We want to set the tone so we will be going in the right direction in solving the problem,” Almendras said.
Based on the information revealed by National Power Corporation (NPC) president Froilan Tampinco at the press conference, the power problem is expected to end only in the month of December this year in which there will no power supply deficit at +24 megawatts.
In January this year, there was a deficit of 19MW. This grew to a 62-MW deficit in February; and March, 47-MW deficit.
This April, projected was a 77-MW deficit; for May, 88-MW deficit; June, 47-MW deficit; July, 59-MW deficit; August, 59-MW deficit; September, 55-MW deficit; October, 77 MW deficit; November 33MW deficit; and December, +24 or no deficit.
Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) head Secretary Luwalhati Antonino said President Aquino had long wanted to hold the summit even before she suggested it to him, adding that he wanted to go to Mindanao prior to his travel to Cambodia.
“The President wants to listen to the people’s suggestions and recommendations. He wants to come and talk to the people of Mindanao with regards to the power problem,” Antonino said.
She clarified that the sole agenda in Friday’s power summit is to solve the power problem.
“We have so many problems in Mindanao but now even yesterday, the most serious is the energy problem,” she said.