CONFRONTING THE TERROR OF DARKNESS

The cry against the daily brownouts, stretching from 6 to 9 hours, is reverberating all over the Province of North Cotabato but it seems nobody is listening.

When I was Governor of North Cotabato, I was also elected as the Mindanao Governors and League of Mayors President. This was in 2002.

That early, I warned our national officials of the threat of a power crisis, a scenario which I conjured based on the rapid economic growth of the island of Mindanao and the projected power consumption that would come along with development.

Nobody listened and as the years went by, the grim picture of a power crisis which I painted became real.

Today, most parts of the Island of Mindanao, especially the Province of North Cotabato, suffer from daily blackouts which last for 6 to 9 hours.

The sad fact is that nobody in government has addressed this problem seriously or has even made a public statement on what action will be taken to confront the debilitating blackouts.

In response to the questions of many sectors on how I would address the problem if and when God would bless me and allow me to serve the people of the province once again, here are the two courses of action which I would take:

1. Immediately upon assumption to office, I will invite all the other Governors of the different provinces in Mindanao, including the Congressmen and the mayors to an Island-wide Energy Conference and come up with steps on how to address the power crisis.

2. During the Energy Conference I will ask the other Mindanao leaders to join me in asking President Noynoy Aquino to direct the Department of Energy to facilitate the assignment of power barges in the different areas of Mindanao to immediately address the power crisis. I expect this to put an end to the brownouts suffered by the people of North Cotabato now.

3. As Governor of North Cotabato, I will explore the hydropower potentials of the province, including the Kabacan River in Magpet town and the Libungan River upstream in Alamada.

I believe the Province of North Cotabato should exercise its corporate powers and invest in hydropower generation.

Come to think of this: If the Kabacan River hyrdropower project will generate 15MegaWatts as indicated in a feasibility study earlier conducted and if the Libungan River Hydropower project will produce 50MW, the 35MW requirement of the Cotabato Electric Cooperative (COTELCO) will be more than satisfied, with an extra 30MW which the provincial government could sell to TRANSCO and generate revenues for the province.

Even before the elections, I have already seriously looked into this problem. In fact, I have discussed the possible investment by the Provincial Government of North Cotabato in power generation.

I consulted former Energy Development Corp. President Paul Aquino, uncle of President Aquino and father of Senatorial candidate Bam Aquino, and asked him if a provincial investment in hydropower generation would be profitable.

His answer was a categorical: “Very profitable.”

This approach in solving the blackouts in North Cotabato will not only put an end to the debilitating power crisis which is affecting the lives of the people and the business community but also earn hundreds of millions of pesos in power generation operation for the provincial government.

I believe these two measures – the power barges and the hydrpower projects – will address the power crisis on the short term and long term basis and will prepare the province for greater economic activities with the operation of the Central Mindanao Airport or M’lang Airport and the opening of Palm Oil Mills in the province.

(photo credit: This photo of a dam in Scotland was downloaded from google.com)