Panic mode

Ruffy Magbanua

IF we are to read the weather forecast,  this year’s  El Nino phenomenon will be  much disastrous  than the one we experienced  in 1998.  And the initial blow can be felt as early as now.

Not only the agri sector will be  affected, the island’s major source of power supply, the Agus hydro complex in Iligan City  is now  taking its toll as the water level of Lake Lanao continues to recede at an unprecedented pace.

Napocor, the country’s major power generator and operator of Mindanao’s hydro-electric  plants, remains mum, keeping its mouth shut,  hiding its inefficiency under dirty corporate linen.

On one hand, NGCP appears on a panic mode, grappling on ways how to put a stop to the bombing sprees perpetrated by the so-called lawless elements cum economic saboteurs.

It will not be surprising to note however that Napocor and NGCP will eventually clash on right-of-way issues. Both agencies are reportedly in disagreement on what to do with the ROW issues.

And so it seems NGCP, on its recent advertisement, admitted that more towers are to go down. Worse, uncooperative landowners are reportedly refusing entry of NGCP linemen inside their properties out to undergo emergency repair  of toppled towers.

Reason? No pay, no entry.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the hinterlands of Mindanao, the bombings of NGCP towers continue unabated. As of last  count, there were at least 18 steel towers which have been toppled–and still counting.

Whoah,   power line terrorists like  today’s mantra of the street–bombings pa more!

Let’s go by the stats. How much does it cost to repair a fallen NGCP tower?  Roughly, it could run to P1 million to P2 million. This amount could be peanuts to NGCP,  but diamonds to the millions of power consumers in Mindanao who take the brunt  every time there is blackout.

What matters most, if we may ask: Is NGCP, with all its resources, helpless (read: inefficient) in finding the right solution to put an end to this enduring problem? Its mandate says so otherwise.

Over time, we smell foul with the way NGCP tackle upfront the lingering right-of-way problem in many sensitive areas in Mindanao.           

The call for support, as it were, have landed on deaf ears. Why not then enlist the services of the aggrieved landowners as vanguards of power lines? As the saying goes: if you can’t lick them, let them join the fray.

On the other hand, the military has expressed its support to protect power lines but it can’t secure  the more than 5,000 steel towers scattered all over Mindanao. It lacks personnel on the ground to safeguard NGCP  towers.

And to cry over spilled milk is not the call of the day either.  Likewise, it would  be a disaster if we have to pass the buck, or worse, play the blame game.

Not this time when Mindanao is facing  alarming  deficiencies in power supply brought about by the inefficient Napocor and the unabated toppling of NGCP towers.

Not this time when we are persistently harassed by the El Nino and the possible collapse of the  integrity of the forthcoming elections because of massive power dearth.

A consensus effort must be made to immediately address this power dilemma.

And NGCP, as the keeper of the country’s transmission highway must do a “front act’’ to kill the spreading virus of this power menace in Mindanao. Asap.

If it fails, then NGCP has no business running the power business.

 (Ruffy Magbanua is a former journalist who once served Napocor, Transco and NGCP as communications specialist. He is now the chair of the Movement for a Brownout-Free Mindanao.)