Source: Manila Times
President Gloria Arroyo on Thursday placed Mindanao under a state of calamity as the region continued to reel from the effects of the El Niño weather phenomenon.
Defense Secretary and National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) Chairman Norberto Gonzales proposed to President Arroyo on Wednesday the declaration of the state of calamity in Mindanao to counter the effects of El Niño in the region.
Earlier, the President said that she would adopt a recommendation of Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes to declare a power crisis in the southern region, a move that would allow the government to contract additional power sources for Mindanao. Congress has to approve the recommendation.
During a press conference on Thursday, Malacañang deputy spokesman Gary Olivar emphasized the “immediacy” of coming up with solutions to the power crisis in Mindanao, which is dependent on hydroelectric for much of its power needs.
Early measures
Gonzales said that the business sector in Mindanao has adopted earlier proposals to address the power crisis in the region, like leasing power generation sets.
Another measure that was proposed for businesses in Mindanao is for manufacturing firms to operate during “off-peak” hours from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., which was strongly opposed by workers and manufacturers.
“Even though there has been resistance among workers in Mindanao’s business sector, I can say that they [business sector] are in favor of it,” Olivar said noting that the scheme is better than closing down plants.
The power deficiency in Mindanao remains at a high level, specifically a 650-megawatt shortage as against peak demand of 1,447 megawatts, because of the reduced capacity of hydroelectric facilities in the region. Water elevation of hydro power plants in Mindanao is still below critical level. Lake Lanao is at 699.02 meters, which is below the critical level of 699.15 meters.
With Mindanao under a state of calamity, local governments in affected areas can use their calamity funds, which make up five percent of their yearly budgets.
Meanwhile, the Palace dismissed as speculations that there would be a failure of elections because of the power situation in the country.
“These speculations are simply unfounded, they have no foundation,” Olivar said.
He called for a deeper understanding of the term “failure of elections” before making a judgment.
“It’s so easy to talk about failure of elections, yet no one defines it,” Olivar said.
Luzon power stabilizes
The limited power supply and skyrocketing electricity rates in the Luzon grid are expected to ease with the completion of maintenance works at the Malampaya natural gas platform in offshore Palawan.
The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), the country’s power transmission utility and system operator, said that the Malampaya facility is now available to provide fuel to three natural gas-fed power plants, which have a total capacity of 2,700 megawatts.
The additional supply will help augment the Luzon grid’s power supply, which has been unreliable since the start of the year because of the unavailability of a number of plants and increasing demand.
The Malampaya, which is run by a consortium led by Shell Philippines Exploration B.V., has been under scheduled maintenance shutdown since February.
Prior to the natural gas field’s recommencing of operations on Thursday, the National Grid said that the Luzon grid suffered a supply deficiency of about 29 megawatts, which resulted in power interruptions between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. in parts of the island.
Euan Paulo C. Añonuevo, Angelo S. Samonte and Adrienne Jesse A. Maleficio
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