The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) has been instructed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to immediately address the power crisis on Panay Island and other parts of the Visayas.

Marcos, according to Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Raphael Perpetuo Lotilla, is “closely monitoring the measures being done by NGCP,” which runs the country’s power grid.

Last week, Panay as well as the islands of Guimaras and Negros experienced massive power interruptions — some lasting up to 12 hours.

Marcos also ordered NGCP “to be transparent and continuously update local officials, distribution utilities, power generators, DOE and the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) of the status of the Visayas grid on a regular basis.”

On Tuesday, May 2, Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Jr. convened the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council and the Provincial Civil Defense Cluster “so they can immediately act on instructions and information critical in the immediate resolution of the power crisis.”

Defensor said the President has specifically instructed NGCP to make sure that a massive blackout in the grid will not happen again by synchronizing the “protection relays of transmission, generation and distribution in the next two weeks.”

Marcos told the power grid operator to immediately finish the third stage of the Cebu-Negros-Panay backbone project (CNP3) which involves linking Negros and Cebu by laying an overhead line from Bacolod City to San Carlos City then to San Carlos City to Toledo City, Cebu through a submarine cable.

The whole CNP project involves the construction of a 238km long circuit, 230kV capacity transmission line linking the three islands of Cebu, Negros and Panay, which includes the expansion of the Barotac Viejo substation, the E.B Magalona cable terminal station and the Bacolod substation.

Defensor also disclosed that the President instructed NGCP “to review the reliability of each Visayas sub-grids” and fast-tract the signing of the Ancillary Service Procurement Agreement (ASPA) with the ERC.IMT