President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday said the government is already addressing the power supply issues in Occidental Mindoro amid the El Niño phenomenon.

Marcos bared this during the situation briefing in the province after Occidental Mindoro Vice Governor Anecita Diana Tayag said that the area is already experiencing problems with the electricity supply.

“We are in a state of power crisis, the cost of our electricity is very expensive. The price of our electricity is very high — P20 per kilowatt hour, while Meralco is only P12 per kilowatt hour,” Tayag told Marcos in the briefing.

“We are in emergency power supply procurement, and our province does not enjoy any subsidy. We have only one power provider, and when it encounters problems, we experience blackouts here,” she added.

“We’ll talk about the electricity problem, that’s a long-term problem that we really have to solve. It’s expensive now. We are connecting you to the other provinces so it will immediately decrease,” Marcos said in response.

The province experienced a power crisis in April 2023, which led to the immediate declaration of a state of calamity. The 20-hour daily power outages in Occidental Mindoro lasted for a month and a half.

Tayag mentioned that 67 percent of the province’s land is affected by severe drought, resulting in a loss of 900 million pesos in the agricultural sector.

In a separate media interview in Occidental Mindoro, Marcos has assured residents that the current power crisis in the province is nearing resolution.

Added issue

“Currently, there’s an added issue — one power plant went down, you know that, because several tripped one after another, but it’s gradually returning so our power supply is sufficient,” Marcos said.

“We have fixed the problems, the technical issues of the plants... Some parts needed replacing, and that’s what we are doing now, gradually restoring,” he added.

Marcos also said that other regions have also suffered from similar power outages, but the focus remains on restoring full functionality to the tripped power plants and substations in Occidental Mindoro.

Regarding a long-term solution to prevent such crises in the future, Marcos said that renewable energy, specifically solar power, would serve as the fastest temporary remedy.

However, the president emphasized that a more sustainable resolution involves a combination of renewable sources including wind, hydro, and geothermal energy. The strategic plan involves connecting Occidental and Oriental Mindoro to the main grid through a submarine cable.

“The fastest remedy for now is solar because with solar, as long as you have a solar cell, you can use it right away, that really is the fastest,” Marcos said.

“The long-term solution isn’t just solar; it includes everything we can source power from. We are putting a submarine cable here specifically in Mindoro so that other places with excess capacity, which is not used and wasted, that’s what we can shift depending on where it is needed,” Marcos added.