Oro councilor slams Napocor ‘secrecy’

By NITZ ARANCON and LITO RULONA Correspondents

THE chairman of the city council’s energy committee hurled brickbats at the National Power Corp.-Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (Napocor-Psalm) for allegedly keeping the public in the dark about the real power situation in Mindanao even as businessmen started complaining of the daily rotational blackouts.

Councilor Teodulfo Lao Jr., the committee chairman, lashed out at Napocor-Psalm over its failure to release information about the true state of Mindanao’s power supply.

Lao said Napocor-Psalm officials were a no-show again during a meeting of the council’s energy committee called after the Cagayan Electric Power and Light Co. (Cepalco) implemented rotating blackouts in the city.

He said the committee has no new information about the problem on the power supply, and exactly what is being done to address it.

“Dili gatunga ang Napocor kung magpatawag ko ug meeting,”Lao complained.

Neither the National Grip Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) nor Cepalco could give a clear explanation on exactly why the daily rotating blackouts had to be effected in Mindanao again except to say that the water levels of Lake Lanao and Pulangi River, primary sources of hydroelectric power in the Mindanao grid, have receded as a result of the El Niño phenomenon.

There are fears that the hyrdoelectric plants have been shut down but neither NGCP nor Cepalco could confirm this.

Elizabeth Ladaga, NGCP spokesperson, there was “no report if nag-shut down ba o wala ang Agus ug Pulangi plants.”

Ralph Paguio, Cepalco senior vice president, said, “We have no official advice form NPC regarding this.”

A former Napocor vice president, Engr. Cerael Donggay, called on the Aquino administration to act on the Mindanao power crisis.

“The power crisis is bleeding the economy of all cities in Mindanao. We, in the business sector, have already shown our dismay. Whole Mindanao kini nga problema. It is already hurting the business sector. Makadaut na kini ilabi na sa mga operation sa planta,” said Donggay, who is the outgoing president of the Cagayan de Oro Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Donggay said there was no assurance of a steady supply of electricity until next year, and this would drive away investors.

He said the national government lacked creativity, and failed to implement a long-term solution to the power crisis.

Donggay said the business sector has been trying to cushion the impact of the power crisis through self-generation, pass-on costs to consumers, energy conservation measures, cost cutting, and by resorting to alternative schedules of operations.

“These are seen as stop-gap and temporary measures while a reliable power supply is being assembled. Power plants like Therma Marine in Zambonga, Alcantara in General Santos, Filinvest in Villanueva, and Cepalco’s Minergy in Balingasag in Misamis Oriental would slightly solve the problem pero na delayed na,” he said.

Donggay said the present power crisis was seen as early as 2001 but nothing significant was done to prevent the situation from worsening.

“Dugay na kini namo nga nakita pero walay gihimo ang gobyerno. In the absence of the private sector, the government could immediately responded to do away with the power crisis. Privatization is not the solution,” he said.