Siquijor is once again grappling with crippling power outages lasting up to 20 hours a day, about a month after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. visited the island and vowed to resolve its energy woes.

“What is happening now in Siquijor is worse than the May to June power crisis,” said provincial administrator Dale Tudtud in an interview with Rappler on July 28. “Again, we’re

back to 18 to 20-hour brownouts daily. It’s disappointing.”

The return of severe outages has alarmed residents and is threatening to derail tourism and local businesses during peak season. The development comes just as President Marcos delivered his fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA), where he specifically cited Siquijor’s recurring energy issues and directed the energy sector to act.

“We cannot allow the progress we have made to be set back by failures in basic services like power,” Marcos said in his SONA, referencing the situation in Siquijor.

Following the President’s SONA, the Department of Energy (DOE) released a statement saying it would ramp up programs to address rural electrification and improve reliability in off-grid areas, citing new initiatives and inter-agency coordination to follow through on the President’s directives.

Despite these assurances, Tudtud noted that the power situation has worsened. No clear timeline has been announced yet for immediate relief or infrastructure upgrades to stabilize supply in the island province.

The recurring blackouts highlight long-standing issues with the reliability of electric cooperatives and limited generation capacity in small island grids—challenges that energy stakeholders have flagged for years.

What do you think are the most viable short-term and long-term energy solutions for off-grid provinces like Siquijor? Join the conversation.

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Photo credit: NEA