Brownout hits entire Mindanao mainland by surprise

Published February 27, 2014 9:10am

(Updated 3:29 p.m.) A widespread brownout hit Mindanao early Thursday even as the Department of Energy said efforts are underway to restore power within the day.

The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines, responsible for nationwide distribution of power, said the outage affected the entire Mindanao, radio dzBB's Raul Tolibas reported.

But Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla said they hope to restore power within the day.

More than five hours after the lights went out, no officials had an explanation for how the power died over such a vast area of the country.

A report on state-run People's Television said the brownout occurred at 3 a.m.

For its part, the Cotabato provincial government said the outage affected Davao City, Compostela Valley, Davao Oriental, North Cotabato, Koronadal South Cotabato, General Santos City, Bukidnon, Cagayan de Oro, and Zamboanga City.

In a report on "News To Go," GMA Davao's Tek Ocampo cited the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) as saying: "Davao del Sur, Maguindanao, Butuan City, and Sultan Kudarat were also affected by the outage."

He added the power returned around 7:30 a.m. but for only 30 minutes. The NGCP has yet to provide an explanation for the outage.

“Kanina bumalik ng 7:30 for 30 minutes pero nawala ulit. Sa ngayon wala pang natatanggap na concrete explanation sa NGCP kung kelan nila mare-restore ang power at kung ano ang dahilan at kung bakit nagkaroon ng power interruption,” he said.

Moreover, he further said vital installations are affected including hospitals.

“Yung father-in-law ko ay naka-confine sa Southern Philippines Medical Center, isang government hospital. Siya ay nakakabit sa ventilator so ang ginagawa nila ngayon ay manual ang pagpa-pump dahil walang kuryente. Nakababahala kung tumagal itong brownout,” he said.

Get power back, find out cause later

In a text message to reporters, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said that the DOE's priority is to get the power back and to investigate the cause of the blackout after.

"They cannot pinpoint the cause of the tripping right now but will work on finding it once power is restored," she said.

Quoting Petilla, the Palace official said that as of 1 p.m., 70 percent of the grid was already back to its original capacity.

"Sec. Petilla says their target is to restore power in all the provinces affected by the end of the day," said Valte.

Meanwhile, the Department of Energy has yet to fully restore power in eastern Mindanao areas hit by Typhoon Pablo in 2012.

Malacañang on Wednesday said Petilla has assured President Benigno Aquino III that power in Pablo-hit areas will be restored within 45 days.

Aquino earlier scolded government officials after finding out that some areas in Cateel, Davao Oriental, are still without electricity more than a year after Pablo struck the town.— LBG/KG, GMA News — with reports from Amita O. Legaspi and Kimberly Jane Tan/LBG/KG/RSJ/HS, GMA News

Tags: blackout, mindanaoblackout, brownout, departmentofenergy, nationalgridcorporationofthephilippines