Senator Risa Hontiveros on Monday filed a resolution seeking an "extensive" legislative inquiry into the recent power outage that hit at least five of the provinces in Western Visayas.

In proposed Senate Resolution 890, Hontiveros said there is a need for a "deeper and more extensive" investigation to address all the factors behind the perennial blackouts in Guimaras, Aklan, Antique, Capiz and Iloilo.

She noted that the power outage on Panay Island disrupted the daily lives of the people in the region, caused substantial financial losses to businesses, and impeded the operations of government offices, schools and hospitals.

"Considering that past investigations and probes have not yielded palpable results, an even more comprehensive, thorough, and extensive examination needs to be conducted, including a review of the concession agreement between the National Transmission Corporation and the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines, as well as NGCP's 25-year legislative franchise itself," Hontiveros said in her resolution.

"We must urgently review and strengthen the effectiveness of all protocols, such as DoE's mechanisms during incidents like simultaneous and unplanned power plant shutdowns," she added.

She continued: "NGCP claims that its decision to take no action like manual load dropping during the blackout was according to 'standard protocols.' Is it a standard procedure when there is a crisis already and you were just idling?"

Hontiveros, who hails from Panay, noted that Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla has blamed NGCP for the power outage, since the "company failed to prevent the system-wide power shutdown by proactively calling on the distribution utilities and electric cooperatives in Panay to reduce their load and avoid a sub-system-wide collapse."