Capitol sending generator sets to Malapascua Island

CEBU, Philippines — The Cebu provincial government will be renting generator sets to be deployed on Malapascua Island in Daanbantayan, northern Cebu following several months of still having power supply shortage.

Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, in a press conference on May 17, told Cebu media that the Capitol decided to take the initiative to remedy the present power supply situation in Malapascua after the National Power Corporation (NPC) denied the request of the governor for a power barge to be deployed in Malapascua to address the rotating brownouts in the island.

“…our efforts have been met with constraints, as the deployment of generating sets by the National Power Corporation (NPC) is contingent upon PSPI relinquishing its contractual obligations and the Department of Energy (DOE) authorizing NPC to assume operations in Malapascua island,” read part of the reply letter of NPC to Garcia’s letter request.

With this, Garcia decided that the Capitol will take action to address the drastic power shortage in Malapascua—a prime tourist destination in the province of Cebu.

“I have advised our legal (office) to prepare an executive order. I shall invoke the general welfare clause for Republic Act 7160 given that the present situation in Malapascua is not only detrimental to the business, it has become a matter of lives, possibly getting lost. You know it's much hotter there in Malapascua,” Garcia said.

Several business operators and resort owners in the island have written letters to Malapascua Business Association Inc. to express their concerns and disappointments over the power interruptions being experienced since Holy Week. This has prompted the LGU of Daanbantayan to seek assistance from the Capitol.

The power service in the island has been interrupted after only three of the four generator sets of Power Source Philippines Inc. (PSPI) have been working, which is not enough power to supply for Malapascua.

PSPI is the sole power distributor in Malapascua Island

In response, the Capitol has contracted a private firm, Dynamic Power, to provide generator sets with a total capacity of two megawatts to the island.

“We are now looking at in the next 2-3 sending over a total capacity of 2 megawatts. When I asked for the peak power demand, PSPI said 1.3 megawatts but that is in the midst of a rotating brownout. So we cannot really ascertain if the peak of 1.3 MW is much lower than what is the actual demand,” Garcia said.

The Capitol has also arranged the transport of these generator sets to Malapascua.

PSPI and the legal department of the Capitol will be coordinating for the said intervention. The Provincial Board is also set to pass a resolution supporting the action of the Governor next week. (CEBU NEWS)