Cusi on DOE, PDP-Laban duties: 'I can do both'

Secretary Alfonso Cusi said on Thursday, June 3, that he was never remiss in his duties at the Department of Energy (DOE), even when he presided over the PDP-Laban national meeting amid blackouts throughout Luzon.

Cusi gave the assurance in a Malacañang press briefing on Thursday, when asked to respond to criticism that he has been “distracted” by politics due to the recent meeting of the ruling party, which he vice chairs.

The meeting coincided with the red alert raised over the Luzon grid and the rotational blackouts throughout the island.

“It does not mean that napapabayaan ko (I neglected my duties). I’m not the only guy running DOE. I trust my team, I trust the DOE people addressing the situation. The policies have been laid out already. This is a question of enforcement,” said Cusi.

He added that the meeting in Cebu does not have anything to do with fulfilling his duties at the DOE.

“I can do [both] jobs. With all the technology we have today, we can perform more,” he added.

Cusi said he was “saddened” by the criticism of his PDP-Laban party mates that he was “prioritizing politics” over power issues. In a privilege speech on Wednesday, June 2, Senator Manny Pacquiao called Cusi “incompetent.”

“Nakakalungkot po na nanggaling pa po ‘yon sa aking party mates. Nakakalungkot din po iyon. Anyway, siguro naman makikita po na hindi natin pinapabayaan ang ating panunungkulan,” said Cusi.

(I was saddened that such comments came from my party mates. It made me sad. Anyway, perhaps they will see that I did not neglect my duties.)

The Luzon grid was placed under red alert for certain hours for three straight days, as power supply was insufficient against the high demand for electricity. The DOE has faulted power plants that went on forced outages.

‘Sabotage’ probe

Cusi said on Thursday that the department is looking into allegations of sabotage with the help of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC). Spot price manipulation is also being investigated.

“Pero habang hindi pa po natatapos ang imbestigasyon, hindi pa po tayo makakapagsabi kung ano ba talaga ang nangyari (Until the investigation is completed, we can’t say for sure what really happened),” Cusi said.

The ERC has asked generation companies to explain the reason behind the extended outages. It also asked the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines to comply with the requirement of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act to enter into ancillary services or power reserves contracts.

Power supply on Thursday has been sufficient, so far, as projected demand for the day has “significantly reduced” due to the weather condition.

As of 9 am on Thursday, the total available capacity is at 11,601 megawatts while demand is projected to peak at 10,331 MW.

The NGCP earlier said that red alerts could be declared until June 7. – Rappler.com

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