Panay Island power outage could last until Friday as affected sectors cope

The power outage in Panay Island is expected to last until Friday forcing various sectors to cope with challenges ranging from health to business, according to a 24 Oras report by Zen Quintalang.

According to the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines on Thursday, 300 megawatts are needed for a stable supply of electricity. Only 135 MW are currently available.

“Meron na tayong 238MW. 213MW of this comes from the power plant in Panay na nakabalik na online. They are around 9 of them, hopefully makabalik na. Ang last remaining natin na big base load power plant si PCPC (Palm Concepcion Power Corporation) hopefully slowly go back to normal na tayo,” said NGCP Public Relations Lead Specialist Reagahn Alcantara.

While the NGCP aims to bring additional power from Palm Concepcion Power Corporation into the grid on Thursday night, there is still no assurance that this will push through.

The power outage, which has been ongoing for the past three days, has become a major concern for various businesses and sectors on the island.

“Perwisyo sa amin na may edad na dahil hindi kami makagalaw sa sobrang init. Mabuti sana kung wala kang sakit, may high blood pa ako,” said an Iloilo City resident.

(It’s an inconvenience for seniors since we have trouble moving around because of the heat. It would be okay if you didn’t have any illness, I suffer from high blood pressure.)

Affected businesses in Iloilo are losing almost P500,000 pesos daily, while hospitals have been incurring additional expenses due to the gas needed for their generators.

Another hospital in Pavia also raised concerns on the possible breaking down of their equipment.

“May mga patient kami na dapat ma-secure namin. Ang consumption namin sa generator which is nagbabayad kami ng almost P40,000 in two days,” said Daryl Samelo, a hospital maintenance supervisor.

Asthma patients in Dumangas, Iloilo also flocked to hospitals because they could not use their personal nebulizers.

“Naghanap na kami ng extension. Mas okay kung may dala ang pasyente ng nebulizer kung magpapaaso sila. Kasi ang may patient sa ER hindi pwede na i-pull-out namin (nebulizer) at ibigay sa isang pasyente,” said Aileen Villareal, an emergency room nurse at Ramon Duremdes District Hospital.

Electricity in Negros Occidental, while available, has been fluctuating, which raised concerns from merchants who are concerned for their products and appliances.

"May pagkakataon na bumabaho ang produkto lalo na ang frozen na hindi pwedeng mawalan ng yelo. Masisira kami sa customer namin,” said business owner Mondit Ma-alat.

Meanwhile, electricity supply has returned to some areas such as Capiz and Boracay.

Despite this, tourism establishments in Boracay still prepared their generators in case of another outage and asked to be prioritized in the supply of electricity.

“Para-paraan lang kasi talaga sila. Kasi karamihan sa kanila, trabahante din ng tourism enterprises natin diyan,” said Tourism Officer Felix delos Santos. —JIselle Anne Casucian/RF, GMA Integrated News