Iloilo officials seek Senate probe on P3.8B Panay blackout

Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor and Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas appealed to the Senate energy committee on Wednesday for accountability regarding a four-day power outage that hit Panay Island, resulting in an estimated P3.8 billion economic loss.

Trenas stated that the blackout forced residents to sleep outdoors or in community centers, with the city alone losing about P500 million a day, totaling around P2 billion over four days and emphasized his anger at the suffering of Ilonggos due to this region-wide power outage.

Defensor called for immediate solutions such as perfecting grid management and completing vital infrastructure projects like Phase 3 of the Cebu-Negros-Panay Backbone while urging legal action against those responsible for compensation and prevention of future occurrences.

Senator Risa Hontiveros questioned whether this recent incident is an isolated case or indicative of systemic mismanagement, noting NGCP's failure to take corrective action during previous outages in April 2023.

Energy Undersecretary Sharon Garin expressed concern that another widespread power outage could occur if corrective measures are not implemented promptly.