Palace might ask Petilla not to resign

MANILA, Philippines - A Palace official said they might ask Energy Sec. Jericho Petilla to stay in office despite missing his own target of bringing back electricty to all areas hit by Typhoon "Yolanda" by Christmas Eve.

Presidential Communications Operations Office Sec. Sonny Coloma said until today, Petilla has yet to submit his resignation to President Aquino.

Coloma added that he cannot second-guess whether the President will accept the energy chief's offer to step down from his post.

"[A]yaw ko pong pangunahan kung ano ang magiging pasya ng Pangulo – ang personal opinion ko lang po ay malamang ay kakausapin naman po siya na magpatuloy sa kaniyang paglilingkod," Coloma said in an interview on ABS-CBN's Umagang Kay Ganda on Thursday.

Petilla, who took over the helm of the Department of Energy (DOE) in October 2012, had announced that he will quit if power will not be fully restored by Christmas Eve in all town and sitio centers in Samar and Leyte ravaged by Yolanda.

In an interview with ANC's Headstart on Thursday, Coloma said a total of 250 transmission towers were toppled by the deadly typhoon.

"[G]iven the extent of the devastation, it would not be unreasonable to see that there will be extreme difficulties involved in fully restoring power," Coloma told ANC.

However, Petilla still managed to get a "99-percent accomplishment" since only three towns out of 300 remain without power, Coloma told ANC.

The Palace official said the DOE continues to work on brining those three towns back to the power grid even if Petilla's deadline had already lapsed.

"So, they are beefing up to it; they are doing what’s needed. And Secretary Petilla said, this is just keeping his words," Coloma said in an interview with Solar News' Day Break on Thursday.

Coloma also commended his colleague Petilla for trying to keep his promise despite the difficult task of restoring energy to the calamity areas.

"I think he has done a good job especially considering the tremendous challenge presented by the wide-spread devastation wrought by Typhoon Yolanda," Coloma told Solar News.