Malapascua in dire need of power supply

One of the Cebu's prime tourist destinations, the island of Malapascua in the Municipality of Daanbantayan, is in dire need of power supply.

This was disclosed by Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia and Daanbantayan Mayor Sun Shimura, in a meeting with the officials of the National Power Corporation (NAPOCOR) Visayas on 10 May.

"We have an emergency situation here. Malapascua is a prime tourist destination. We cannot allow this island to go black," the governor stressed.

Shimura said that the power outages in the island have inflicted damages not only on the resort owners but also to the residents.

Originally, four generators were available to meet the island's nearly 2-megawatt power demand but due to the damages, only three were operational.

While these three are operational, Power Source Inc. (PSI) also have encountered issues with its old transformers, leading to the tripping of the breakers caused by the insufficient power supply, according to PSI Operations and Maintenance Head Marc Barcelona.

This resulted to the Cebu Provincial Board, in its regular session on 13 May, passing a resolution en masse requesting NAPOCOR to immediately provide a power barge.

NAPOCOR Visayas Head Timoteo Diacor assured the governor that the agency will answer for the urgent matter.

Aside from the island's white sand beaches, Malapascua is a leading diving destination in the province as it offers a unique swimming experience, for one, with harmless thresher sharks.