Statement of Senator Win Gatchalian on the Red Alert warning issued by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines

The red alerts for Luzon issued by the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) today is surprising, especially after the Department of Energy (DOE) repeatedly assured us just last week that there is ample reserve throughout the dry season. These kinds of confusing messaging does not help the public at all.

Sinabi ng DOE may sapat na kuryente, at may sobra pa kahit tagtuyo. Pero ngayong araw, limang planta ang hindi gumana at dahil dito ay nawalan tayo ng 1,702 megawatts na kuryente. Nagsimula na rin ang Meralco ng manual load dropping kaninang ala-una ng hapon. Ibig sabihin ay may mga kababayan na tayo na nagtitiis ng sa init at kawalan ng kuryente.

I call on the DOE to immediately and thoroughly investigate these outages and to put contingencies measures in place to ensure that there will be no power interruptions during election day. Moreover, DOE should remain vigilant for possible collusion due to thin electricity reserves in the midst of high demand.