Gov’t will help out in Negros, Panay energy woes – Marcos

NGCP power lines (File photo from the Philippine Daily Inquirer)

WASHINGTON D.C., United States — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Sunday (Monday Manila time) said the government could aid in the distribution of power in Negros and Panay Island amid rolling brownouts in the areas.

Marcos said the government had been able to implement remedial measures in parts of Visayas amid the frequent power outages but might have to augment power distribution on Negros Island and Panay Island.

“In terms of Mindoro and even Marinduque, we’ve already been able to do some remedial measures. Negros and Panay Islands are the ones having problems now. The irony is Negros actually has a surplus of power supply. The reason that there are brownouts is because of the distribution system through the high-tension wires. So that’s what we will have to look into,” he told reporters on board the plane en route to Washington.

“If they can’t do it, maybe the government will be the one to help. We’ll augment. That’s it. They’re lacking [in power],” he added, speaking in a mix of English and Filipino.

He further said that what the government was initially looking into was how to “get the surplus power out of Negros into the rest of the Visayas because they’re at a net loss, a net undersupply.”

However, he said it turned out that power outages in the region were due to the distribution system and not the power supply.