DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 24 July)—Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) Secretary Leo Tereso Magno said he is willing to mediate to settle the rift between the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Island Garden City of Samar (IGACOS).
Delegates to the Mindanao Development Forum 2024 listen to a presentation at the Acacia Hotel in Davao City on Wednesday (24 July 2024). MindaNews photo by MANMAN DEJETO
In a press conference at the sidelines of the Mindanao Development Forum in Acacia Hotel here Wednesday afternoon, Magno noted the exchange of words between DOE and the local government unit of Samal. “If there’s a position paper needed to be brought to the national government and to the Office of the President, we will bring it there,” he added.
The clash of narratives between Samal Mayor Al David Uy and DOE revolves around the city’s power issues and the performance of the Northern Davao Electric Cooperative Inc. (NORDECO), the power utility supplying electricity to the island, as well as to the rest of Davao del Norte.
Uy said in a press conference last June 29 that the island’s economic losses due to inconsistent power supply has reached around P125 million a year since 2021.
The mayor also said the problem was the delayed deployment of the submarine cable owned by NORDECO.
In an event in Iloilo on July 8, Dr. Rowena Cristina Guevara, DOE undersecretary, emphasized that the island has “enough” energy and rather attributed the power issues to distribution problems rather than a lack of supply.
Guevara has stated that Samal has sufficient power supply and has opted that the agency will not “intervene directly,” and that the power interruptions in the island were not true.
In a press conference Frida last week, Magno said that Samal’s power issues must be solved as it “talks about Mindanawans’ concerns” and “he had pledged to help the island’s power issues.”
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. earlier vetoed House Bill 10554 on July 28, 2022, which, if became a law, would expand Davao Light and Power Company’s franchise to the cities of Tagum and Samal and the towns of Talaingod, Asuncion, Kapalong, San Isidro and New Corella in Davao del Norte.
“I am constrained to veto the bill due to the susceptibility of the proposed expansion of the franchise area of Davao Light and Power Company Inc. to legal and/or constitutional challenge due to the apparent overlap and possible infringement into the subsisting franchise, permits, and contracts previously granted to North Davao Electric Cooperative Inc.,” Marcos was quoted. (Ian Carl Espinosa / MindaNews)
