Duterte to tap ‘big players’ to address Palawan blackouts

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte said over the weekend that he is thinking of tapping “big players” to address power interruptions besetting Palawan.

In a speech during the first Subaraw biodiversity festival, Duterte said that despite modern times, he could not understand why there are rotational power shortages on the island.

To address the problem, he said, “On the extreme, maybe I will just give you guys... There will be no personal issues here, only work. I will give you about toward at the end of the year, a new set-up that would provide energy to run a place and so that it can develop and it can operate and it can move.”

Duterte even hinted that China is one of the parties interested in doing such.

China is one of the countries Duterte considers as a “friend.” Just last week, a Chinese company was named the provisional third telecommunications company.

“I will allow other players to enter and I will allow them to buy you out and I will exercise the right of the state to eminent domain,” he added.

He said he would talk to Palawan Gov. Jose Alvarez and Mayor Lucilo Bayron about the proposal.

Meanwhile, the President called on business owners to regulate the people entering Palawan to avoid the “fall” of the island and suffer the same fate as Boracay.

“You know, just clean that. Do not overload it. You stand watch. Boracay is a classic case of overloading. It can carry only so much people,” he said.

Duterte also called on beach resort and hotel owners not throw their wastes on the beach, and should allocate money for sewage treatment plants.

He said hotels should not be near the easements because the beach is exclusively for people since the property is owned by the national government.

“Let us work together in protecting the environment so that the government’s action to close Boracay Island will not be repeated elsewhere in the country,” he said.