Marcos vows to address power crisis in Occidental Mindoro

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. on Tuesday vowed to address the power supply problem in Occidental Mindoro.

"We'll talk about the electricity problem, that's a long-term problem that we really have to solve. Mahal na ngayon. We are connecting you to the other provinces para immediately bababa 'yan," Marcos said during a situation briefing.

(We'll talk about the electricity problem, that's a long-term problem that we really have to solve. It's expensive now. We are connecting you to the other provinces so the rates would go down immediately.)

Vice Governor Anecita Diana Tayag had earlier said that the province has been experiencing electricity supply woes amid the El Niño phenomenon.

"Kami po ay nasa state of power crisis, napakamahal po ng presyo ng kuryente namin," Tayag said.

(We are in the state of power crisis, our electricity is very expensive.)

In an ambush interview, Marcos expressed belief that the power supply was not hampered by sabotage.

''So, ang power supply natin ay sapat naman. Nagkaka red and yellow lang tayo na alert pero sa kasalukuyan, nakikita namin, dahan-dahan bumabalik sa normal  na naman ‘yan. Maaayos  na natin 'yung mga naging problema, 'yung technical problem du'n sa mga planta,'' Marcos said.

(Our power supply is enough. We are experiencing red and yellow alerts, but the situation is currently going back to normal. We can already fix the technical problem in our plants.)

''At maraming nakikita ko sa news, eh baka mayroon daw nag-sabotahe. Pinag-aralan din namin ‘yan, wala naman,'' he added.

(I've been seeing in the news that somebody has been allegedly sabotaging the supply. We have studied this; there's none.)

The local government further asked the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) for assistance amid power supply problems.

In April of last year, the province suffered a power crisis, which resulted in the declaration of a state of calamity. The 20-hour daily power outages in Occidental Mindoro lasted for a month and a half.

Meanwhile, Tayag also said that 67% of the province's land area was affected by the drought, which already resulted in P900 million worth of losses in the agriculture sector.

Last March, 24 Oras reported that the towns of Looc, Magsaysay, and San Jose were placed under a state of calamity due to the El Niño phenomenon. — VDV, GMA Integrated News