GMA blows fuse over blackout

President Arroyo blew her fuse yesterday after several areas in Metro Manila, including Malacañang, suffered intermittent power interruptions, an after-effect of the five-hour blackout that paralyzed Luzon Sunday.

Palace Spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao said the President issued a stern warning to Energy Secretary Vicente Perez and National Power Corp. (Napocor) president Jesus Alcordo that a repeat of Sunday’s incident would be totally "inexcusable."

"The President has reminded these officials that our power system has enough capacity and is modernized enough to prevent such power interruptions," Tiglao said.

Mrs. Arroyo was visibly irritated over the blackouts which hit the Palace shortly after noon yesterday.

Tiglao, in fact, was just about to give his afternoon press briefing when the electricity was cut. He spoke with reporters in the dark until power was restored five minutes later.

The presidential spokesman said the President wants to make sure that in the future, a breakdown in one plant doesn’t create a chain reaction in the entire system.

Last Sunday, the 1,000-megawatt Sual power plant in Pangasinan tripped twice following an overload in the Pagbilao plant in Quezon, causing the entire system to shutdown.

"The President has given specific instructions that there should be no more five-hour blackouts, given there is no problem in terms of supply. It’s a matter of fixing the entire system," Tiglao said.

In a related development, Sen. John Osmeña said yesterday the privatization of Napocor may be delayed "because there seems to be no takers at this time of economic crisis."

Osmeña, who recently came from a world energy conference in Argentina, said no country has expressed interest in investing in Napocor.

"We will have to rethink our plans for Napocor. We might have to postpone the privatization... its is a bad time to invest not only in Asia but also America and Europe," the senator said.

Sen. Teresa Aquino-Oreta urged the government to restudy its plan to launch an international road show for Napocor in January.

She said the sale of Napocor should be delayed until economies recover to earn the best deal for the power firm. – With Aurea Calica