Miriam favors emergency powers for Aquino

MANILA, Philippines – Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago favors granting President Benigno Aquino III emergency powers to avert a looming power crisis but only for 6 months.

“We cannot build any more power plants because we just don’t have the time and it costs too much. We need to give him (President Aquino) these powers so that he can make sure that the outages will not follow the schedule drawn up by the experts,” Santiago said in a news briefing on Wednesday, September 17. 

But she said such the President should exercise the emergency powers only for 6 months.

“It is an abnormal situation. We don’t want to stay there for a long period of time. The President might acquire the attributes of dictatorship. We give him the power but only for 6 months or so,” Santiago explained. 

In a September 12 letter to Congress, the President sought the “immediate enactment of a Joint Resolution authorizing the President to establish additional generating capacity.” The crisis is expected by the summer of 2015.

The Department of Energy (DOE) projects a power supply shortfall of up to 300 megawatts (MW) in the summer months of 2015 in Luzon. An additional 400 to 500 MW are needed as buffer supply.

Santiago blamed the “lack of foresight” on the part of Congress in failing to prevent the imminent crisis. The President should be given the powers immediately, she added.

The lady senator’s view is contrary to the position taken by Senate President Franklin Drilon and Senator Sergio Osmeña III, chair of the Senate committee on energy, that the process cannot be rushed. (READ: Drilon: Can’t rush emergency powers for Aquino)

“Supposed to be, the crisis will be in full bloom by summer of 2015. We have a choice whether we want to do it now so Malacañang can make plans or we can do it as close as possible to the actual dates of the emergency. I’m always in favor of preparation so I would vote, if i were given the opportunity, in favor of giving the President emergency powers. Ibibigay na rin lang, ibigay mo na kaagad (Since you’re doing it anyway, why not do it immediately),” she said. 

Osmeña said in a radio interview said the request for emergency powers indicates failure on the part of the executive to manage the country’s power situation.

He said the government should instead prioritize the implementation of the Manila Electric Company-led Interruptible Load Program, a scheme where heavy power users, such as businesses and factories, will voluntarity run their standby generator sets to ease the demand for power from the grid during peak hours.

Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla, however, had earlier warned that the ILP would be difficult to implement on a permanent basis since it is voluntary in nature. – Rappler.com