EDITORIAL - Emergency powers

Acknowledging the urgency of the situation, President Aquino is set to ask Congress for emergency powers to deal with an energy crisis that experts say will hit the country in the summer of 2014. That’s just half a year away. Some analysts have warned that even with emergency powers, it may already be too late for the government to avert regular blackouts starting in March.

In a speech last Thursday, the President said he wanted additional powers to speedily approve contracts for increasing generation capacity. Energy officials are projecting a 300-megawatt deficit. The nation needs another 300 megawatts in reserve. That’s an enormous amount of capacity that must be made available ASAP.

Anything provided in a rush is bound to be expensive, as the nation saw when the Ramos administration put an end to the power crisis that crippled Metro Manila and much of Luzon in the final months of the presidency of Corazon Aquino. But at least the lights came back quickly.

This time, can Malacañang and Congress move quickly enough? The Senate is busy skewering the Binay clan  while the House of Representatives is working on economic Charter change, the Bangsamoro Basic Law and a precedent-setting national budget for 2015 that supposedly will no longer have discretionary lump sums or pork barrel funds.

President Aquino will have to speed up his submission to Congress of the specific powers he needs to confront the looming crisis. If approved, he will need capable individuals to quickly implement his orders.

The current problems now bedeviling the flow of goods in the Port of Manila, traffic flow in the capital, and services in the light railway systems do not invite much confidence that the government will be able to effectively confront the power crisis. When the lights go out next year, the government should be able to offer the public something more than engaging in  a blame game.