The province of Occidental Mindoro has been placed under a state of calamity due to its worsening electricity crisis.
Local officials made the declaration so that emergency or calamity funds can be used to address the crisis affecting the education of its students, and the health and livelihood of residents in the province for more than a month.
Governor Eduardo Gadiano wrote to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to act on the matter. The Palace has yet to release a statement as of press time.
Officials said they make do with only four hours per day of electricity supply—that is, 20 hours without electricity every day in the province.
Vice Governor Diana Apigo Tayag said the calamity fund can also be used to purchase crude oil to use for electricity in hospitals.
“It’s just too much. For us, our economy is on life support. We’re so down. Almost no businesses are running here,” said Tayag in Filipino over ABS-CBN Teleradyo.
“One of the biggest things we need here is ice. We have a lot of fish products, but all our ice comes from other places,” she added.
According to Celso Garcia, General Manager of Occidental Mindoro Electric Cooperative (OMECO), only 12 megawatts are supplied by the Occidental Mindoro Consolidated Power Corporation (OMCPC), their sole power supplier. The province needs around 30 megawatts.
The root of the problem, according to reports, is the nearly P1 billion subsidy charged by OMCPC from the National Power Corporation (NAPOCOR) that would have sold diesel to run the power plant.
Garcia said the Department of Energy (DOE) has exempted them from the competitive selection process to immediately enter into contracts with power suppliers for 17 megawatts to have an additional power supply in the province.
“For now, we have contracted with ORMECO (Oriental Mindoro Electric Cooperative) because they have emergency power supply. The problem is, we can only get the power during off peak hours,” said Garcia.
“During off peak, in the hours when the (electricity) load is low, we can get about 4 to 6 megawatts, which isn’t enough. We are contracting an additional 5 megawatts from Pulang Lupa or Barangay Central, and we are talking over the terms of the contract.”