President Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday gave Palawan’s energy cooperative almost a month’s extension to solve the frequent power disruptions in the province.
But he warned he would be compelled to expropriate its franchise and get a new electricity operator should officials fail to meet his deadline.
Speaking at the first Subaraw Festival in Palawan, Duterte said the six to eight hours of blackouts in parts of Palawan were not acceptable.
“You experience blackouts six to eight hours. That is not acceptable to me,” Duterte said in his speech on Saturday night.
“I’ll give you [till] the end of the year [to come up with] a new setup so you can provide enough energy,”
Duterte indirectly gave the ultimatum to the Palawan Electric Cooperative or Paleco, the distribution franchisee, for its daily blackouts that have been going on for years.
He said he would contact a new electricity operator for the province should the officials fail to meet his schedule.
“What I would do is look for a wealthy [power operator]. China is very eager to get hold of developments here,” Duterte said.
“I will expropriate your franchise. I will buy it at a valuation that is a fair and just compensation to end this impasse.”
Fearing that the long-term power outages could affect the progress of Palawan and its people, Duterte said he would allow the major players to operate on the island as a way to improve Palawan’s power situation.
“Either you do it or I will do it for you. I will expropriate,” Duterte said.
Paleco has blamed the independent power producers for the prolonged power disruptions, saying the IPPs had failed to upgrade their facilities and deliver enough energy.