By Liza Soriano
MANILA — Senator Win Gatchalian is pushing for more severe penalties to be levied against industry players found culpable of mismanaging power-related issues leading to economic losses.
“I propose that, as part of our legislative output, we align the penalty with the economic losses experienced by affected areas due to negligence and incompetence,” stated Gatchalian.
This proposal comes in the wake of a hearing conducted by the Senate Committee on Energy regarding the recent power outage in Western Visayas.
“It’s not enough,” Gatchalian commented, referring to the maximum penalty of P50 million imposed by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) for any violation of the country’s grid code.
Gatchalian believes that the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) would take these issues more seriously if stricter penalties were in place for violations.
“The situation was abnormal because there was a power supply deficiency when a power plant went offline afternoon on January 2. The demand surged, creating an imbalance in the grid. When you have a negative margin, that will undoubtedly disrupt the grid,” he explained.
(el Amigo/MNM)
