Hundreds of power interruption notices can be found on the Facebook pages of the electric distribution utility companies in Panay Island provinces
CLAIM: There have been no blackouts in Panay Island from April to June
RATING: MISSING CONTEXT
President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. in his third State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday said no blackouts occurred in Panay Island from April to June this year.
He credited this to the Cebu-Negros-Panay backbone project, which he said had helped stabilize the power situation in Western and Central Visayas.
“Dahil sa proyektong ito, naiwasan ang blackouts sa Panay Island noong Abril hanggang Hunyo, sa kabila ng yellow at red alerts sa rehiyon,” he said.
To check the veracity of Marcos Jr.’s claim, it must be understood that blackouts refer to a total loss of electrical power in a specific service area, while brownouts involve a partial and temporary decrease in system voltage or overall system capacity.
In January, Panay experienced a widespread and prolonged blackout after several power plants tripped. Marcos Jr. had said this outage resulted in P3.8 billion worth of economic losses in Iloilo alone.
The total blackout in Panay Island lasted for three days, while parts of Negros Occidental experienced rotational power interruptions.
In March, parts of the Panay and Negros islands faced another blackout due to the unplanned shutdown of three units of the Panay Energy Development Corp., which have a combined capacity of 316 megawatts. The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) reported that this shutdown was followed by the tripping of other power plants in Panay.
Marcos Jr.’s statement that no blackouts occurred from April to June overlooks the significant number of blackouts that happened earlier in the year.
Even after the completion of the Cebu-Negros-Panay Backbone Project, frequent power outages continued to plague the four provinces of Panay Island—Aklan, Antique, Capiz, and Iloilo—often occurring daily or with only two to three days between interruptions.
Notices of power interruptions from the electric distribution utility companies in these provinces—Aklan Electric Cooperative Inc. (Akelco), Antique Electric Cooperative Inc. (Anteco), Capiz Electric Cooperative Inc. (Capelco), and Iloilo I Electric Cooperative Inc. (Ileco I)—revealed that power outages occurred, primarily due to maintenance activities.
Claiming that blackouts have been avoided overlooks the real situation on the island. According to research by the Varsitarian, there were 234 power interruption notices from April to June: 81 from Akelco, 40 from Anteco, 70 from Capelco, and 43 from Ileco I.
The Cebu-Negros-Panay 230-kilovolt backbone project, completed on March 27, is part of the administration’s efforts to address power shortages in the area. Marcos Jr. inaugurated the third stage of the project on April 8 in Iloilo City.
Power interruption advisories continued to be posted on the electric distribution utility companies’ Facebook pages, up until before the SONA.
Based on a technicality, Marcos Jr.’s statement about Panay Island experiencing no blackouts is correct, but it is misleading and lacks context. Kaela Patricia B. Gabriel with reports from Rev E. de la Cruz
