President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has ruled out the nationalization of power distribution in Negros amid a recent electricity crisis besetting the island.
Instead, Marcos said the government will “augment” the existing power services in Negros.
“The irony is Negros actually has a surplus of power supply. The reason it is experiencing brownout is because of its distribution system in its high-tension wire… So that’s what we will have to look into,” Marcos told reporters in an interview onboard PR001 over the weekend.
In a television interview with PTV last Monday, National Electrification Administrator (NEA) Administrator Antonio C. Almeda disclosed the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) is already addressing the distribution issues in Negros.
Aside from Negros, the President said the government is also monitoring power disruptions in Panay Island and other parts of the country as power demand rise due to high temperature.
“We are now trying to control or trying to manage rather our water consumption, our power consumption because that’s very closely related,” the President pointed out.
“In terms of Mindoro and even Marinduque, we’ve already been able to do some remedial measures,” he added.
The President also ordered the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to address the power outage at the Ninoy Aquino Terminal 3 last Monday, which affected numerous flights and passengers.
“President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has instructed Department of Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista to restore normal power operations at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport [Naia] Terminal 3 as soon as possible while providing all necessary assistance to affected passengers,” the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said in a brief statement.
Naia was also hit by a system glitch last January, which caused a power outage in its facilities and stranded 60,000 passengers.