Malacañang promised Tuesday to let appropriate government agencies address the power supply problem in Occidental Mindoro.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque reacted to appeals from Mindoreños residing in Metro Manila to look for ways to address the power crisis in their area.
Roque, in an online press conference, said he will inform President Rodrigo Duterte about the reported daily power interruptions in Occidental Mindoro.
He added that the Department of Energy, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines , and the Energy Regulatory Commission will be asked to assess the situation in the province’s electric supply.
Their complaint will be relayed to the President, the Department of Energy, NGC, and other agencies which should be given notice, including ERC), Roque said.
Occidental Mindoro has been enduring power outages for over a decade.
The province has been beset by frequent power interruption, heavily-subsidized generation rates due to heavy dependence on diesel and bunker fuel, delays in proposed energy projects, uneven electrification rates, and administrative issues of electric cooperatives in the island.
The citizen’s movement Mindoreño Ayaw sa Dilim has been organized to fight the supposedly daily blackouts in Occidental Mindoro that last from six to 12 hours a day.
The group is also conducting a petition campaign for the filing of a temporary restraining order on the ongoing competitive selection process (CSP) of the Occidental Mindoro Electric Cooperative (OMECO) for procurement of power supply for the province.
In July, the NGCP proposed the construction of the Batangas-Mindoro interconnection project worth PHP16.87 billion to ensure reliable transmission service to consumers.