UNITED Nationalist Alliance (UNA) senatorial bet San Juan City Rep. JV Ejercito Estrada expressed his disappointment over the seeming lack of action by the Aquino administration for solutions such as the immediate rehabilitation of the Agus-Pulangi hydropower facilities to solve Mindanao’s power crisis.

Ejercito Estrada noted that the National Power Corp. (NAPOCOR) has yet to follow through on its pronouncement in December last year that it will soon schedule the bidding for the rehabilitation of Agus-Pulangi which supplies more than half of Mindanao’s power requirement.
“The Mindanao power crisis has already worsened but until now, the government has yet to push through with rehabilitation plans for Agus-Pulangi. The region needs immediate as well as long-term solutions to its power woes, not just stop-gap measures that would unduly burden consumers,” said the young lawmaker.
The San Juan solon also urged government to study the providing of subsidy to prevent the increase of electricity rates in Mindanao after the Department of Energy (DOE) announced that the distribution of generation sets to electric cooperatives would hike power rates by as much as P4 per kilowatt hour.
“If the Aquino administration did not drag its foot in addressing the region’s power woes, consumers would not now be faced with the prospects of higher electricity rates,” said Ejercito Estrada. “It is therefore imperative for the government to find ways to cushion the impact of more expensive electricity on Mindanao consumers.”
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Press Release
April 10, 2013