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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Castro blames NGCP, power players for massive Panay blackout 

Castro blames NGCP, power players for massive Panay blackout 

Published Jan 4, 2024 04:12 am

At A Glance

  • House Deputy Minority Leader ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro says the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) should be held accountable for the island-wide blackout in Panay as well as some parts of Negros that began last Jan. 2. 

IMG_20230815_142245.jpgACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro (Screenshot from YouTube live)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) should be held accountable for the island-wide blackout in Panay as well as some parts of Negros that began last Jan. 2. 

Thus, said House Deputy Minority Leader ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro in a statement Thursday morning, Jan. 4. 

Castro noted that this massive power interruption has led to the suspension of classes, among other adverse effects. 

"Milyon-milyong mamamayan ng Panay ngayon ang nagdurusa sa init at kawalan ng kuryente dahil hindi na naman ito napaghandaan ng mga power players. Suspendido ang mga klase at bagsak ang negosyo ng marami," said the teacher-solon. 

(Millions of Panay residents are now suffering from the heat and absence of electricity, just because this wasn't anticipated by the power players. Classes have been suspend and most businesses are down.) 

Residents in Western Visayas still had limited electricity supply on Wednesday. The service of most power plants on Panay Island have yet to be fully restored after multiple trippings on Jan. 2. 

But Castro said grid operator NGCP isn't the sole entity to blame for the massive power interruption. 

"It is not just the power generators' and NGCP's fault, the distribution utility (DU) namely MORE Electric and Power Corporation of the Razon group of companies is also responsible for this," she added. 

The Makabayan solon wondered out loud what MORE Power has done to improve the distribution infrastructure backbone since its takeover of the DU on the island. 

"Does it have seamless coordination with the system grid operator and the generators? Does it even have a system to help protect the grid from collapsing like a load dropping mechanism?" she asked. 

"Nangyari na ito noong isang taon tapos naulit na naman ngayon. Sana ay agad na itong maayos kundi ay dapat na talagang imbestigahan ito," concluded Castro. 

(This already happened a year ago and now it has happened again. Hopefully this gets resolved quickly, or else on investigation should be launched.)

Related Tags

act teachers party-list Panay Island National Grid Corporation of the Philippines FRANCE CASTRO
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