An urgent call from Mindanao
The movement for a Brownout-Free Mindanao has an urgent call: 1) for Malacañang to convene the National Security Council to discuss the Mindanao power situation; 2) for the House committee on energy to conduct a congressional inquiry where power industry players (National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP), National Power Corp., and Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management) should be asked to explain to the Filipino people the unabated bombings of power transmission towers in Mindanao.
Yes, we are one with the observation of the House committee on energy chaired by Mindoro Rep. Rey Umali: The power situation in Mindanao is “approaching crisis proportions.”
Mindanao, the country’s second largest island with 13 million voters, would be in a power crisis if the spate of bombings persisted in the coming days and weeks.
We are also in agreement with Rep. Rufus Rodriguez that a failure of elections may happen if towers are toppled day after day until the elections.
Accordingly, Mindanaoans are not happy with what NGCP is doing—announcement and restoration. The after-incident report somehow reflects the reactive mindset of a supposedly well-oiled power consortium.
Definitely, this is not what the people of Mindanao would want to know. We are interested on “how” the problem is being addressed, considering the magnitude and implications of the destruction caused by the now almost weekly bombing of transmission towers.
This compels us to wonder: NGCP has been in the transmission business for seven long years now and yet right-of-way valuation issues remain unresolved up to this day.
And every time a tower is bombed, the usual run-of-the-mill excuses would be the unsettled right-of-way claims, uncooperative landowners, trees planted underneath power lines, and line personnel being barred entry to undergo repair work on damaged towers, etc.
And the problem has been aggravated by the El Niño phenomenon that has us being hit by a long dry spell, sending the water level of Lake Lanao, source of Mindanao’s hydropower, to a critical low.
For quite a time now, Mindanao has been beset by bombings of transmission facilities. But still there seems to be no solution in sight as “electric terrorists” continue sabotaging the economy of Mindanao.
Mindanao’s power situation is a puzzling contrast to those of Luzon and the Visayas, where towers are unthreatened. More so when we turn to the current power outlook: Luzon has an average excess power of 2,119 MW, while Visayas has 98 MW; but Mindanao has only 9 MW. See the dismal difference?!
—RUFFY MAGBANUA, chair, Movement for a Brownout-Free Mindanao, [email protected]
