Romblon declares DMCI power firm persona non grata
The Romblon provincial government has declared DMCI Power Corp. persona non grata for opposing a contract to supply electricity to nine towns and 200,000 residents.
The declaration, Romblon Rep. Eleandro Jesus Madrona said, means the firm “is unwelcome to do business in our province.”
The league of town mayors followed suit and made similar declarations stating that the firm is unwelcome in their towns.
In Resolution No. 06-2015-117, the Provincial Sanggunian said it was declaring the DMCIPC a persona non grata for “blocking and opposing the implementation of the power projects of Tablas Island Electric Cooperative (TIELCO) and the Sunwest Water and Electric Co. (SUWECO).”
It said TIELCO conducted a public bidding for the supply of electricity to nine towns, which SUWECO won.
Despite losing the bidding, the DMCI power firm reportedly blocked the approval by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) of a power supply agreement between TIELCO and SUWECO, depriving about 200,000 residents of electricity.
The DMCI power firm claims that the winning bidder is not complying with the terms of the bidding, like the building of a hydroelectric plant while temporarily operating an eight- megawatt diesel generator.
Madrona has asked the Department of Energy and the ERC to allow SUWECO to run its generator so the nine Romblon towns could have electricity. His position found support in party- list Bayan Muna.
Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares said the power outages have been happening since 2012 and made life difficult for island residents.
“Why has this gone for so long? It has been three years already and residents still suffer from four to five- hour brownouts every day. This has a very debilitating effect on the economy of the province as well as on the lives of the residents,” he said.
Colmenares added that business establishments cannot operate properly and “even the education of children is hindered.”
“Regardless of who is at fault, it is imperative that the ERC act on this quickly because the people of Romblon have suffered long enough and they deserve an immediate solution,” he stressed.