Aquino: PH economy can lose up to P23.3B in daily, 5-hour brownouts for 3 months

MANILA, Philippines—President Benigno Aquino III on Wednesday warned that the economy could lose up to P23.3 billion in case of daily five-hour brownouts for three months next summer.

“The most expensive power is no power,” he told a forum of the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (Focap), citing concerns expressed by private companies wary of the government’s projected power shortage early in 2015.

President Benigno Aquino III. FILE PHOTO

Mr. Aquino said the estimated loss “does not include foregone investment and tourist arrivals arising from the negative impact of the power outage on the country’s image as an investment and tourist destination.”

The President said a reduced estimate of P9.3 billion in losses was based on daily two-hour brownouts.

“I’m the guy who says ‘plan for the worst and hope for the best,’ or you can take the opposite view of ‘hope for the best and plan for the best,’” he said, reiterating his request for Congress to grant him “various powers” to address the supposed power shortage.

Mr. Aquino said measures the government has been trying to put in place would not lead to “that big an increase” in the cost of electricity.

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