AnaKalusugan Party-list  Representative Ray T. Reyes on Tuesday, January 9 blamed the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines’ (NGCP) failure to execute most of its major projects saying this contributed heavily to the massive blackout in Western Visayas.

For the longest time, Reyes pointed out lawmakers have been calling out NGCP over the delays in its project—some of which have already reached decades without completion.

“But instead of upgrading our system, they've prioritized massive dividends and lavish celebrations to their shareholders and directors,” Reyes lamented. 

The lawmaker said the power outage could have been prevented if NGCP had only finished the Panay-Negros-Cebu Interconnection Project on time. 

"The completion of the Panay-Negros-Cebu backbone project has been moved six times from the original target date of December 2020,” he pointed out.

“(It’s already) 2024 na po at ang mga kababayan nanaman natin ang nagdurusa dahil sa kanilang kapabayaan, (It’s already 2024 and still many of our citizens are suffering because of their negligence),” he added. 

He also scored the NGCP over its lack of preparation, noting that a similar power blackout hit Panay Island April last year. 

“There's no excuse given na nangyari na ito (that this has already happened) last year. They should have been better prepared in handling and preventing these types of diaturbances," he added. 

Reyes said a congressional probe into the Western Visayas blackout would help lawmakers form resolutions to address the country’s perennial energy problem. 

"Malinaw na malinaw naman po kung sino ang may kasalanan at pagkukulang sa pagkakataong ito (It’s very clear who should be held accountable and who are liable in this case),” he said.

“What we need right now is to hold those responsible accountable for the severe impact on people's lives and economic activities," the solon stressed.