It’s not yet summer – Pagasa

MANILA, Philippines — Filipinos will continue to experience scorching weather this week but state meteorologists said the dry season has not yet started.

However, the public has been assured that there will be no massive power outages during the summer.

Robert Sawi, assistant weather services chief of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), said the easterlies or the warm air from the Pacific Ocean will prevail over the country until Thursday.

But he stressed that the northeast monsoon is not yet over.

“By Friday, there will be a reemergence of the northeast monsoon,” Sawi said. “But we don’t expect the weather to be as cold as in the past weeks.”

The northeast monsoon, he said, has already reached its peak this month.

“It (northeast monsoon) is still prevailing over mainland China, but its effect in the Philippines is already waning,” Sawi explained.

The coldest temperature recorded during the northeast monsoon season was 11.4 degrees Celsius in Baguio City last Jan. 14.

 Sawi said the northeast monsoon usually peaks in February and ends in the first week of March.

He added that a new low-pressure area may enter the eastern side of the country this weekend.

There will be no massive blackouts this summer following the temporary restraining order (TRO) recently issued by the Court of Appeals (CA) against the suspension of four commissioners of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said yesterday.

Gatchalian, chairman of Senate committee on energy, welcomed the CA decision that takes note of the importance of the power industry and the need for electricity.

“It’s important that in the next 60 days, the ERC should work double or triple time because that’s our window to approve pending contracts,” he told reporters. 

During a hearing of the committee last week, Gatchalian noted that the demand for power increases by about 15 to 20 percent every summer. 

With the given period, the ERC expects the disposition and promulgation of 60 pending cases and the completion of the technical process for 40 new ones. 

In December last year the Office of the Ombudsman served a one-year suspension on four commissioners of the ERC who were found liable for not implementing the competitive selection process, unduly favoring certain distribution utilities.

According to ERC chairperson Agnes Devanadera, the body received the memo from the Office of the President directing the implementation of the suspension last Jan. 22. 

Devanadera announced the body’s promulgation of a resolution for the adoption of rules to lower the cap on the allowable rate of system losses that can be passed on to consumers. The resolution was promulgated last Feb. 13. 

Meanwhile, the Luzon grid will get an additional supply of nearly 600 megawatts (MW), ensuring enough electricity during the summer months, the Department of Energy (DOE) said. – Danessa Rivera, Paolo Romero