In a workshop in Quezon City, Department of Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said that everyone in the energy industry “must be attuned to the existing nationwide disaster – response system of the energy sector.”
Cusi has emphasized this at DOE’s Disaster Response Protocol Workshop yesterday at the National Power Corporation (NPC) headquarters in Quezon City yesterday.
In the protocol workshop, DOE undersecretary Felix William B. Fuentebella said that “the primary objective is for the energy sector to periodically review the implemented and established system of rules to effect the correct and appropriate conduct and procedures to be followed by the industry stakeholders.”
The DOE secretary also said that the energy sector has long been implementing protocols to address and respond to calamities and disasters that take their toll on vital energy infrastructures.”
“The DOE continues to update its system of protocols, advance notifications and quick-response strategies to fit the country’s current requirements,” he added.
Cusi added that the DOE will and is “proactively advocating energy resiliency in the face of the frequent and disastrous occurrences of natural and human-induced calamities in the country.”
On Thursday, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian called out the DOE for not having protocols in place for disaster mitigation intended to help electric cooperatives address complications of power outages in areas affected by natural disasters.
Cusi said that they’re updating the standard operating procedures and emergency responses to mitigate the impact of natural disasters on the sector.
Read: DOE reviewing emergency responses for rehabilitation of typhoon-hit power facilities
