Congresswoman Julienne Barona said on Sunday that Iloilo City’s economic loss reached almost P4 billion in less than four days after the three-day blackout that occurred on January 2-5 on the islands of Panay and Guimaras and parts of Negros.
Barona told DZRH’s Isyung Pambayan that it enormously affected the business climate as they are trying to project Iloilo City as the investment hub since the city is investor-friendly.
She added that there will be a huge effect on the business community if there is no security and enough power supply, particularly in areas with many investors, which can also extend to locals, employees, entrepreneurs, and school establishments.
“Marami ang naapektuhan, hindi lang ang business community. Pati na ang local, mga common na tao na nagtatrabaho, nagnenegosyo, mga eskwelahan. Nandito din ang educational hub, ang educational center. Nandito ang malalaking universities, marami talagang naapektuhan,” she told DZRH.
In the Provincial Planning and Development Office’s (PPDO) report, three electric cooperatives in the province collectively lost more than 3,351.86 megawatts of electricity, which affected both residential and commercial establishments.
Moreover, the power outage’s aftermath affected businesses, industries, and other economic activities.
As such, Barona suspected that the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) should be the one to blame for the power outage.
According to her, there was a misdiagnosis that occurred, which caused overloading after two hours, leading to a domino effect that affected the powerplant.
Barona hoped that the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) would speed up the investigation to determine who was held liable for the incident.
“Pero I hope that ERC, as the regulating body, sana matapos ang imbestigasyon para magkaroon ng conclusion at managot kung sino ang dapat managot. At least, kung sino ang gustong mag-file ng civil case, pwede silang mag-file. Hindi ko rin sinasabing abswelto si ERC dito dahil may pending cases din sila with NGCP,” she said.
