Marcos: SIPCOR permit revoked as there was 'no improvement' in service

President Ferdinand ''Bongbong'' Marcos Jr. on Friday explained why the permit to operate of Siquijor Island Power Corporation (SIPCOR) was revoked.

During his visit to Siquijor's new power plants, Marcos said SIPCOR's operations in providing power supply in the province "did not improve." 

''We had to take over the operations of SIPCOR for the simple reason that wala tayong nakikitang improvement doon sa kanilang pag-provide ng supply ng kuryente kaya’t ganoon ang nangyari,'' Marcos said. 

(We had to take over the operations of SIPCOR for the simple reason that we have seen no improvement in its operations to provide power supply.) 

''So, si – the NEA and the ERC get together, pinagtrabahuhan together, of course, under the Department of Energy ay trinabaho nila para sila na, ang PROSIELCO na ang magpatakbo. At after that, tutuloy-tuloy na natin and we’ll see that magiging mas maganda na ang serbsiyo ng pag-provide ng kuryente,'' he added.   

(So the NEA and the NRC worked together, of course, under the Department of Energy, so that PROSIELCO will now handle it. After that, we'll see that residents will have better power services.) 

Last month, the Energy Regulatory Commission revoked SIPCOR's permit to operate as the island province’s power supplier due to alleged violations of its compliance requirements. 

The Department of Energy, in particular, found the following violations committed by SIPCOR:

• Operating of generating units without a valid Certificate of Compliance (COC) — SIPCOR has allegedly continued to operate without a valid COC and has failed to submit a timely application for renewal. 
• Unauthorized use of rental generator sets — Rental gensets have been found to replace inoperative units necessary permits and without prior notification to the ERC and DOE.
• Breach of approved Power Supply Agreement - SIPCOR’s inability to deliver sufficient power, thereby violating provisions of its memorandum of agreement with PROSIELCO (Province of Siquijor Electric Cooperative).

SIPCOR is a subsidiary of Villar Group’s Prime Asset Ventures. 

For its part, SIPCOR said it shall exhaust all remedies under the law but it assured its stakeholders and the public of its commitment to address the matter responsibly and resolve this concern as soon as possible —VAL, GMA Integrated News