Generators to help solve power crisis - The Manila Times

BY ANGELO S. SAMONTE and FRANCIS EARL A. CUETO Reporters
President Gloria Arroyo has authorized the release of P1 billion to mitigate effects of the El Niño weather phenomenon particularly on the agriculture sector.

“We authorized P1 billion, now it’s up to the El Niño Task Force, headed by the DA [Department of Agriculture] to determine how to allocate it among the different agencies,” President Arroyo told reporters during a dinner in Cebu on Thursday.

She said that to solve the power crisis in Mindanao, the private sector would import power generator sets based on her instructions.

“In my instructions, aside from the private sector importing generation sets, they’re going to rent, they’re going to lease. I said we should also use the embedded generating capacity, when they had a shortage here that’s what they did, they used the embedded generating capacity of the private sector, they allowed them to connect to the grid. That’s part of my instructions,” the President added.

Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes has been talking to the Land Bank of the Philippines and Development Bank of the Philippines to provide financing support for the leasing and renting of power generation sets by the private sector.

The private sector could avail of P100 million in loans for the importation of generation sets, the President said.

Mrs. Arroyo added that now that she has approved the declaration of a state of calamity in Mindanao, local governments could use 5 percent of their annual budgets to address the effects of El Niño.

When asked if the release of the calamity fund needs clearance from the Commission on Elections, the President said, “I don’t think so, the one that’s not allowed during the [election] ban is awarding contracts, but not projects.”

The President did not say how long the declaration of a state of calamity in Mindanao will last but that there is a continuing assessment on the ground that the state of calamity could be lifted once the rains arrived this June.

Also on Thursday, she declared a state of calamity in Mindanao, which has been hit daily by rotating brownouts lasting from eight to 10 hours.

Meanwhile, Malacañang deputy spokesman Charito Planas said that the government supports a proposal by Rep. Rufus Rodriguez of Cagayan de Oro City to revisit the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira) of 2001 to help solve the country’s power problems over the long-term.

Planas added that Rodriguez proposed the review of the Epira to correct its flaws and attract investments. Rodriguez also wanted that more incentives be given to companies who want to invest in the power sector.


Unexpected rains

Rains fell on Metro Manila on Friday, a rare occurrence during the prolonged dry spell the country is experiencing.

The rains came unexpectedly, with state weather forecasters saying that a cold front soaked Metro Manila, much of Southern Luzon and the Bicol region.

The last recorded rainfall in Metro Manila was on January 22.

Earlier in the day, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said that a cold front was expected to provide temporary relief from the searing summer heat for residents in parts of Luzon and Eastern Mindanao.

“Luzon will experience mostly cloudy skies with light rains while the eastern section of Mindanao will have mostly cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms. The rest of the country will be partly cloudy to at times cloudy with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms,” Pagasa said in its 5 a.m. bulletin on Friday.

But the weather bureau earlier warned the public not to mistake the rains as an early end to summer, saying that these are isolated and that the hot days are due to return soon.

There were a few occurrences of rainfall during February but these amounted to less than 1 millimeter, which was insignificant.

“The rains today do not mean that the El Niño is over, because we are still experiencing and will still experience below normal rainfall,” Rusy Abastillas of the Climate Monitoring and Prediction Section of Pagasa said.

She added that Friday’s rains were caused by easterly winds coming from the Pacific Ocean, bringing in moisture.