Cebu City mayor withholds energy crisis declaration

Cebu City Mayor Nestor Archival has declined to declare a citywide energy crisis, stating that local officials must first monitor power reserves and potential supply support from neighboring power grids.

The decision follows calls from the Cebu Electricity Rights Advocates for local government units to declare an energy crisis.

To recall, the Visayas region has grappled with a fragile power supply for nearly a month, triggering frequent “yellow” and “red” alerts indicating thin generation margins.

“I will not yet declare an energy crisis because I want to closely watch what happens within the next two or three days,” Archival said. “Within the next two or three days, we will know more. Hopefully, we can come up with a solution.”

Department of Energy Secretary Sharon Garin said the agency would support local governments that choose to invoke emergency powers to address the worsening power situation.