DOE 7 assures bright Christmas; DTI to strictly monitor sale of Christmas lights

CEBU, Philippines – Department of Energy Regional Director Antonio Labios assured yesterday a "dark Christmas" will not happen in Central Visayas.

Labios said Unit 1 of the Kepco power plant in Naga town, which will commence operations next month, will be able to generate up to 80 megawatts of power and augment the existing power supply.

Aside from this, the geothermal power plant in Leyte will also start operations on November 15.

Engineer Eduardo Amante of DOE said December and January are not the times when people incur high energy consumption. 

"Ang May mo-consume og much energy tungod sa kainit unya ang October kay tungod sa manufacturing,"Amante explained.

Meanwhile, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said they will be strictly monitoring the Christmas lights being sold along Colon Street to ensure that they are keeping up with safety standards set by DTI.

Zaide Bation, chief of DTI's Consumer Welfare and Business Regulatory Division, said they already identified one establishment along Colon Street that is selling sub-standard Christmas lights.

Engineer Dario Cabarubias said one indication that the lights are substandard is when they are being sold cheap. Lights cost cheap if they reportedly did not undergo testing with DTI, he said.

Substandard Christmas lights run the risk of malfunctioning easily and can cause fire.

Cabarubias said that customers who are being sold with substandard lights can file a complaint with the DTI.

Christmas lights manufactured locally and are par with standards have the BPS (Bureau of Product Standards) seal while imported ones that have passed standards have the Import Commodity Clearance (ICC) seal.

Last year, DTI confiscated substandard Christmas lights from six establishments along Colon Street.

Under DTI rules, establishments with first time violations may be fined from P35,000 to P300,000 while second time violators may be fined with P50,000 to P750,000. - Mylen P. Manto and Grace Melanie I. Lacamiento, USJR Intern/JMO (FREEMAN)