Emergency powers pushed

To address Visayas power crisis

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — House Deputy Speaker Alfredo Benitez is pushing to grant President Marcos emergency powers to fast-track measures addressing the recurring power shortages, generation shortfalls as well as the red and yellow alerts in the Visayas.

Benitez raised the proposal during a joint congressional hearing here on Saturday, as lawmakers, energy officials and other stakeholders assessed the region’s worsening power situation.

Energy Secretary Sharon Garin backed the proposal, saying emergency powers could shorten the time needed to address regulatory, permitting and right-of-way requirements for energy projects.

“Power plants, they take  three to five years to build,” Garin said, adding that emergency powers could help accelerate the processes needed for generation, transmission and distribution projects.

She said the earliest long-term solution could be delivered by the end of 2028, adding that this timeline could be shortened through faster government action.

The proposed emergency powers would allow the government to accelerate projects and address bottlenecks involving permits, right-of-way and other requirements, while enabling agencies and industry players to move more quickly on needed infrastructure.

Benitez, who filed House Resolution 1429 seeking a congressional inquiry into the Visayas power situation, said the immediate crisis must be addressed alongside reforms aimed at making the energy system more balanced, competitive and resilient.

“The Visayas deserves the right power in the right place at the right time. It must be delivered reliably and procured at the right, competitive and transparent price,” Benitez said.

He stressed that the latest outages underscored the vulnerabilities of a power system that has left the Visayas dependent on electricity transferred from Luzon and Mindanao, and vulnerable when several generating units go offline simultaneously.

“In practice, much of the investments and generation capacity have become concentrated in Luzon and Mindanao while the Visayas has faced limitation in local supply and generation capacity. Today, Visayas is a net importer of power,” Benitez said.

“We’re seeing the consequences. The issue before us today is not simply whether we have enough electricity. The bigger question is, does the Visayas have the energy foundation to sustain the growth and economic potential of the region?” he added.

Data presented during the hearing showed the Visayas had about 2,575 megawatts of available supply against an afternoon demand of 2,624 MW.

The gap becomes wider at night, when the region relies more heavily on power transfers from Luzon and Mindanao.