President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has ordered concerned power companies to improve their operations—and issue refunds to consumers if necessary—as the government moves to restore electricity in the entire province of Siquijor before yearend following prolonged brownouts.

In his State of the Nation Address on Monday, Marcos said the government’s investigation uncovered multiple operational failures that left Siquijor in crisis and forced local officials to declare a state of calamity.

“We will investigate these failures. Power companies must improve their management, and if necessary, issue refunds to affected consumers,” the President said.

Marcos directly called out the situation in the island-province, citing the heavy toll on its economy and essential services. 

“I will not ignore what happened in Siquijor. Because of widespread brownouts, the province was even forced to declare a state of calamity. This caused great hardship to the people there—their tourism, businesses, hospitals, and various services were all affected.”

Among the issues found were expired permits, broken and neglected generators, slow response times, and the lack of a system for purchasing fuel and spare parts.

As such, Marcos directed the Department of Energy, the National Electrification Administration, and the Energy Regulatory Commission to act swiftly and ensure full restoration of electricity before the end of the year.

Marcos also committed to long-term solutions, including the development of new power facilities to prevent future outages. “We will ensure the establishment of facilities for a long-term solution to their power issues. This should never happen again,” he said.

At one point during the President’s speech, the camera lingered on Senator Camille Villar, daughter of billionaire businessman and former Senate President Manny Villar.

The Villar family controls Prime Asset Ventures Inc., the parent firm of S.I. Power Corp. (SIPCOR). It supplies power to the Province of Siquijor Electric Cooperative, Inc., which handles distribution.

Last month, SIPCOR said Siquijor's power supply was fully restored after it completed key repairs and deployed two rental generators, raising its dependable capacity to 10,800 kilowatts—well above the island’s peak demand

The power generator said it is ramping up technical operations and daily assessments to ensure stable electricity across Siquijor.