DOE to activate energy resiliency task force after Cebu earthquake

Secretary Sharon Garin on Wednesday said that the Department of Energy (DOE) will activate the task force on energy resiliency following the devastating magnitude 6.9 earthquake that hit Bogo City, Cebu on Tuesday night.  

Garin said this during the consideration of her ad interim appointment by the Commission on Appointments (CA) committee on energy. 

“Once it's activated, all the stakeholders are gathered in order for us to have information and act on the problem. So that includes NAPOCOR, NEA, NGCP, TransCo, all the oil companies actually for the gas stations, DOE,” Garin said.

“So once it's activated, all these activities similar to what we are doing to Masbate are being done also. So, we also, if there's a need for Task Force Kapatid, we also send it there. Right now, they're all over the place because there are too many disasters happening. But, the response is similar to Masbate, just on a smaller scale,” she added. 

The DOE chief was referring to Typhoon Opong, which affected power services in Masbate. She said that the same task force deployed in Masbate will also go to Cebu, either by Thursday or Friday, to address electricity problems resulting from the earthquake. 

“Mr. Chair, Cebu happened last night, yes, and we have to call on them to, they have to prepare, they have to create a team, Mr. Chair, and then all their equipment, their heavy equipment, have to be transported. So it takes them a day or two just to get to the area,” Garin said. 

The Visayas power grid has been placed on yellow alert on Wednesday as several power plants went on forced outage following the powerful earthquake in Cebu. 

The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) said the yellow alert will be hoisted from 1 p.m. to 12 midnight on October 1, 2025.

The CA energy panel endorsed to the plenary the confirmation of the ad interim appointment of Garin as Secretary of DOE. No members of the commission objected.

Safety reminders after an earthquake

The DOE earlier posted the following safety reminders after an earthquake:

-Turn off the circuit breaker and close the LPG tank 

-Avoid touching exposed electric cables, particularly those wet or submerged in water, to avoid electrocution 

-Inform the power distribution utility of any damage.

—with Mariel Celine Serquiña/LDF/VBL, GMA Integrated News