President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has called on the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) to immediately solve the power crisis in some parts of the Visayas. The President also asked the corporation to regularly update concerned government officials about the status of the Visayas grid; build the Cebu-Negros-Panay backbone project; and expedite the signing of Ancillary Service Procurement Agreement (ASPA). The order came amid the crisis in electricity in the islands of Panay, Guimaras and Negros. According to the Presidential Communications Office (PCO), among Marcos’ demands was for the NGCP to be transparent, as well as, to continuously inform the local officials, distribution utilities, power generators, the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) about the Visayas’ grid status. NGCP was also instructed to “synchronize the protection relays of transmission, generation and distribution in the next two weeks to prevent massive blackouts.” The President told the corporation to immediately finish the third stage of the Cebu-Negros-Panay backbone project, which involves linking Negros and Cebu by laying an overhead line from Bacolod City to Carlos City, then to Toledo City through a submarine cable. NGCP, the PCO said, was also instructed to review the reliability of each Visayas sub-grid and fast track the signing of ASPA to manage power fluctuations. According to PCO, the islands’ provincial disaster risk reduction and management offices and the Provincial Civil Defense Cluster would convene on Tuesday, May 2, to act on the President’s instructions.