Tulfo wants Senate probe on power outages in Oriental Mindoro, other provinces

MANILA, Philippines — The decades-old problem of power outages and high electricity costs in Oriental Mindoro may be investigated by the Senate if Sen. Raffy Tulfo – who says the situation is “unacceptable” – has his way.

Tulfo, now the Senate energy committee chairman, berated officials of the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Oriental Mindoro Electric Cooperative (Ormeco) during his program “Wanted sa Radyo” last Friday, citing consumer complaints that these electricity woes remain unresolved.

“The problem has been with Ormeco for more than two decades. The ones who suffer the most are consumers – people whose appliances break down and students who struggle to study because there is no light. The worst thing about this situation is that there is always a brownout yet the electricity bill remains high,” the senator said.

Tulfo vowed to file a Senate resolution to investigate, in aid of legislation, the root cause of the electricity problem in the province and hold officials accountable for the people’s suffering.

“This is unacceptable! No amount of excuses will justify the negligence of Ormeco,” he said of the electric cooperative which is the lone power distributor in the province.

Given that these electricity woes have dragged on for two decades, he stressed that “someone has been negligent here” and vowed to “find out (who) through a thorough investigation in the Senate.”
Tulfo mentioned the need to summon officials, not just of Ormeco, but of the DOE and the Energy Regulatory Commission, to explain why these problems remain unresolved.

During his radio program, the senator heard the complaint of one Bern Josep “Bekimon” Persia, who claimed they regularly experience more than 12 hours of brownouts every day in the province.

Humphrey Dolor, Ormeco general manager, cited the supposed issue of the independent power supply as among the reasons for the persistent brownouts – an “excuse” that further enraged Tulfo.

“Two decades ago, was there always a problem with the independent power supplier? Heck no! That’s not a reason. That is no longer a problem for consumers who pay their bills correctly. They should be given proper electricity,” he said.

Tulfo’s radio program has received numerous complaints of experiencing years of frequent brownouts in their respective provinces.

Apart from Oriental Mindoro, these provinces are Northern Samar, Pampanga, Batangas, Negros, Quezon Province, South Cotabato, Maguindanao, Zamboanga, Pangasinan, Tarlac, Marinduque, Camarines Norte, Zamboanga Sibugay, Masbate, Davao Oriental, Southern Leyte and some parts of Bicol region, as well as the towns of San Jose and San Isidro in Nueva Ecija; Tabuk in Kalinga; Echague, Isabela; Casiguran, Aurora and Ozamiz City in Misamis Occidental.