MANILA, Philippines – Matinding binatikos ng ilang senador ang patuloy na malawakang brownout sa Panay Island na nagpadiskarel sa lahat ng negosyo at pamumuhay ng mamamayan sa Western Visayas.
Sa magkakahiwalay na pahayag, gusto ni Senador Chiz Escudero na papanagutin ang lahat ng pribadong kompanya na responsable sa brownout kabilang ang ilang ahensiya ng gobyerno na nangangasiwa sa enerhiya.
Dahil dito, nanawagan si Escudero sa Department of Energy at Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) na ipatawag ang opisyal ng Panay Energy Development Corporation (PEDC) at Palm Concepcion Power Corporation (PCPC) at magpaliwanagin sa detalye ng malawakang brownout na lumumpo sa buong Western Visayas.
“I want them to explain the unscheduled shutting down of their plants and why it took a longer-than-usual period to bring the power supply back. For PCPC, I cannot understand why it took them four days to resupply power instead of just four hours, which is the usual time to resupply power in cases of maintenance shutdowns,” ayon sa beteranong mambabatas.
“If their explanation is found wanting, they should be penalized for the business losses they created because of the blackouts. This is necessary so that other power generation companies or gencos will exercise more care and prudence in the operation of their plants as well as compliance with existing regulations,” giit pa ng senador.
Aniya, kailangan nang masusi at malalim na imbestigasyon upang maiwasan na mangyari ang ganito sa hinaharap at maiwaan ang pagtaas ng halaga ng kuryente na naunang nangyari sa Metro Manila.
“Power has three components—generation, transmission and distribution. All three must be looked into in order to have a complete picture and not simply do finger-pointing on how to prevent a similar occurrence from happening again in the future,” aniya.
Kasabay nito, matindi rin ang pagbatikos ni Senador Nancy Binay sa pangyayari na lubhang nakaapekto nang todo sa industriya ng turismo sa Western Visayas dahil paulit-ulit ang insidente na dapat maiwasan kung may sapat na programa ang pamahalaan sa matatag na suplay ng kuryente.
Sa pahayag, sinabi ni Binay, chairman ng Senate committee on tourism na malaki ang epekto ng brownout sa industriya ng turismo sa Western Visayas partikular ang hospitality sector at lokal na negosyo.
Aniya, pinatutunayan lamang nitong huling brownout ang kakapusan ng bansa sa pagpapaunlad ng solusyon sa pangailangailangan sa enerhiya.
“Yung nangyaring blackout sa Western Visayas is a big dent to our country’s development, and can be clearly taken as a sharp reminder na kailangan nating seryosong maghanap ng mga long-term solution para matugunan ang problema sa kuryente,” ayon kay Binay.
“So, how do you promote tourism ‘pag may mga ganitong unreliable power supply sa atin? The sad part, most of the inconveniences are usually experienced at small resorts that have not invested in any alternative power source. Even a 30-minute power outage, is already a nightmare for business. What more if it would take days?” giit pa ni Binay.
Sinabi ni Binay na magkakaroon ng direkta at di-direktang epekto ang brownout sa industriya ng turismo na lubhang tinamaan ang hospitality sector.
“Sa totoo lang, ‘di lang ito nangyayari sa Western Visayas. Halos sa buong Pilipinas marami pa ring nasa sektor ng turismo ang kababangon lang mula sa pandemya—and admittedly, most of them are not prepared to deal with the increasing threat of power disruption, especially those in the island resorts,” ayon kay Binay.
“Hindi na ito basta wake-up call—magiging bangungot na ito ‘pag ‘di pa rin natin naayos ang supply kuryente natin. For the short-term, I encourage the DOT to come up with a ‘whole-of-industry approach’ as far as corrective actions to arrest future prolonged brownouts in tourism destinations. Siguro, the DOT and TIEZA can help in providing establishments with power outage business continuity plans as part of the incident response protocols just to keep their operations running,” dagdag ni Binay.
Samantala, galit na galit naman si Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas sa National Grid Corporation of the Philippine (NGCP) sa kabiguan nitong tugunan ang lumalalang problema sa suplay ng kuryente sa lalawigan.
“I did not have power in my house last night . Now I am in city hall , i have no Power as well . NGCP walang palabra de honor . “Palangga guid ako sang NGCP” I have been using my generators at my house, the commissary and the cafe since I was included in the load shedding . It is good that I went through this so that i can feel what the ordinary ilonggo feel,” ayon kay Trenas. Ernie Reyes
