PRESIDENT Marcos Jr. on Sunday said the national government will look at how it could augment efforts to address the power distribution problem in the Negros and Panay islands that has caused widespread power outages in the areas.
The President, in an interview onboard PR 001 enroute to Washington for his official working visit, said he found it ridiculous and ironic that the power outages in Negros, which has a surplus of power supply, and the Panay islands have been traced to problems in the distribution lines.
Marcos said prior to the brownouts, the national government was looking at how to tap the power surplus from Negros for distribution to other Visayan provinces that may be short of supply.
“Ang nagkaka-problema ngayon are Negros and Panay Island. The reason na nagkaka-brownout is because sa distribution system sa high-tension wire. So that’s what we will have to look into (Negros and Panay Island are now having power supply problems. The reason for the brownout is because of the high-tension wires used for the distribution system. So that’s what we will have to look into),” Marcos said.
He said concerned local offices are now trying to address the issue while the national government will “augment” or provide additional support if they are unable to solve the problem on their own.
He emphasized that there will be no take over by the national government, which he said will only provide whatever will be “lacking” to solve the power distribution problem.
Reports said the islands of Guimaras, Panay, and Negros experienced a series of power outages last week.
The President said the government in general is trying to manage both the country’s water and power consumption amid the current hot and dry season that are expected to adversely affect the supply of both water and power.
The weather bureau has said that the El Niño phenomenon is expected to occur towards the end of the year until early 2024 which would not just result in a dry spell but also affect the supply of water and eventually power.
