Marcos Admin “will find a way” on PH energy crisis

After assuming the highest position in the land, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has acknowledged that the country is facing concerns in terms of power supply and that he may leave it to oil-rich countries to provide supply to the country, or the government will “find a way.” 

“There is a parallel problem in our energy supply; sufficient fossil fuel-free technology for whole economies has yet to be invented. And it is not seriously tried by rich countries,” Marcos Jr. said in his inauguration speech on June 30. 

“Again, consider the response of the richest countries to the war in Ukraine. But surely a Free World awash with oil can assure supplies. Or we will find a way,” the president added. 

In June, a series of red alerts and yellow alerts were declared by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) due to “generation deficiencies” and unplanned outages of certain power plants. 

This, in turn, caused power interruptions to over one million customers in the Manila Electric Co. (MERALCO) franchise. 

Pres. Marcos Jr. also said that the Philippines is “ not far from oil and gas reserves that have already been developed.” However, the Malampaya gas-to-power project, which is the lone natural gas provider in the country, is seen to be depleted by 2027. 

During his campaign, Marcos Jr. said that he will be considering nuclear energy as the country’s power source. 

Former president Rodrigo Duterte signed the Executive Order (EO) No 164 or the Nuclear Energy Program, wherein nuclear will now be included in the country’s energy mix through the Philippine Energy Plan, 

Marcos Jr. is already in talks with experts from South Korea to discuss the possible revival of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP), which was built during the regime of his father, the late president Ferdinand Marcos Sr. 

The new president also made mentioned the wind farms in Ilocos Norte which he believes to be one way to mitigate pollution in the country. 

“There are tried and proven new ways of mitigation. Blades have been turning over the sand dunes of Ilocos Norte. Harnessing a power all around, but unseen long before this day. I built them,” Marcos Jr. said. 

However, the Bangui and Pagudpud wind farms in Ilocos Norte are not owned by the Marcos Family, according to the Department of Energy’s (DOE) 2020 list of power plants in Luzon. 

The Bangui Wind Farm is owned and operated by North Wind Power Development Corporation, a subsidiary of Ayala-led ACEN. While the Pagudpud Wind Farm is a joint venture project between ACEN, Philippine Alliance for Infrastructure, and UPC Philippines Holdco. 

Photo from the Philippine News Agency