ILOILO: The Sangguniang Panlungsod asked for bolder steps that would address the energy crisis, including certifying as urgent the amendments or repealing of Republic Act 9136 or Electric Power Industry Reforms Act (EPIRA) of 2001.
‘The government must make a bold move. This is in support of the action of the mayor (Jerry P. Treñas) to represent the city in bringing our problems to get noticed,’ said Councilor Romel Duron, who authored the resolution during their regular session on Wednesday.
Duron anticipates recurring blackouts if the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) won’t do its job.
‘This is not just prophecy. There will be recurring blackouts if NGCP does not do its job. They know what happened and were remiss in their duty,’ he added.
In an interview on Thursday, he said there is a plan to take legal action against NGCP, but it would still depend on the result of the inquiry being conducted by Congress.
Duron said Section 34 of the EPIRA law is very oppressive because it statesNG
CP would only pass all its expenses to end users.
‘We have to amend the EPIRA L
law because it is onerous. It is favorable to them,’ he said.
Iloilo City suffered at least PHP2 billion in losses due to the power outage on Jan. 2 to 5.
A copy of the resolution will be forwarded to the Senate and House of Representatives, Department of Energy, NGCP and governors in Western Visayas and Treñas for appropriate action.
Source: Philippines News Agency