Binay: Massive power outage hurting tourism industry, local biz

Senator Nancy Binay said the extensive power outage in the Western Visayas has widely affected the tourism industry, particularly the hospitality sector and local businesses welcoming foreign travelers and excursionists. 

Binay, who chairs the Senate Committee on Tourism, said the recent massive power outage "only validates" the country's clear status that it is "behind schedule in developing energy solutions."

"The blackouts happening in the  Western Visayas is a big dent to our country's development, and can be clearly taken as a sharp reminder that we seriously need to find a long-term solution to address the power crisis," she said.

Binay lamented that the scheduled power outages had "plunged three islands into darkness, and crippled almost the entire region forcing establishments without backup power to close shop."

"So, how do you promote tourism if we have an unreliable power supply? The sad part, most of the inconveniences are usually experienced at small resorts that have not invested in any alternative power source. Even a 30-minute power outage, is already a nightmare for business. What more if it would take days?" she asked.  

Binay stressed that the power crisis has already provided "direct and indirect economic repercussions" in the tourism industry alone. 

"Yung panay-panay ng brownout will always be a big concern. We know that these things happen beyond our control–but the persistent outages in the country are hurting our efforts to promote the Philippines as a frills-free holiday destination," she said. 

She added that the constant power interruptions increased the number of tourists who resorted to canceling their bookings for the holidays.

"Our guests come to our islands to enjoy and have a memorable time–but not these kinds of experiences," she added.

Binay emphasized that the role of electricity in the country's economy "is exceedingly significant for the growth and development" of tourism and other industries.

"Hindi na ito basta wake-up call—magiging bangungot na ito 'pag 'di pa rin natin naayos ang supply kuryente natin," she said.

Binay encouraged the Department of Tourism to come up with a "whole-of-industry approach" for short-term solutions "as far as corrective actions to arrest future prolonged brownouts in tourism destinations."

"Siguro, the DOT, and TIEZA can help in providing establishments with power outage business continuity plans as part of the incident response protocols just to keep their operations running," she said.

Binay said the DOT should help draft a template for a contingency or continuity plan since most establishments do not have adequate plans to deal with energy- or communications-related failure.