Senator wants Davao power co-op probed over outages

MANILA, Philippines — A Senate inquiry is being sought against the Northern Davao Electric Cooperative (Nordeco) in connection with power outages that hit the Island Garden City of Samal.

The outages resulted in the declaration of a state of calamity in the city.

“One energy crisis after another is being experienced in our country. After Occidental Mindoro and Panay, now Samal Island,” Sen. Raffy Tulfo said over the weekend.

“In the coming hearing of the Senate committee on energy on Wednesday, the matter regarding the energy crisis in Samal Island will be discussed. Those who are negligent will be held accountable and a long-term solution will be found,” Tulfo said.

He said that Nordeco appears to be the root of the power failure, because its antiquated and poor submarine cables have never been replaced since its installation.

On average, the power outages in the area lasted seven to eight hours during peak load and two to three hours during off peak daily. This has been going on since last year.

Tulfo said the cooperative failed to prepare for the increase in the power demand of the island-city, noting there was no power crisis in the area before it became a tourist spot.

Now that tourists have been flocking to Samal, its peak demand has gone up from three to nine megawatts due to the rise of establishments such as resorts, restaurants and markets.