BASCO, Batanes , Philippines – On Sept. 4, the power generators of the National Power Corp. (Napocor) supply capacity in the entire Batan island was reduced from the usual 24 hours to only 16 hours a day, a consequence of what it called “judicious utilizaion of its resources.”
Since Sunday, electricity has been further reduced to 12 operating hours here in the mainland.
Households and government offices only enjoy the comforts of electricity from 12 noon to 12 midnight. In the island-muncipality of Sabtang and Itbayat, the islanders have six hours of electric power.
Napocor had only 33,000 liters of fuel yesterday. An employee who requested not to be identified, said, they are trying to economize to make this supply last until the end of the month.
“We use from 2,000 to 3,500 liters of fuel a day, depending on the efficiency of our generators,” the employee said.
“If all three generator sets operate, they all consume 3,500 liters a day. If one generator runs, we use only 2,000 liters,” he added.
The unusual situation of lack of fuel is caused by the lack of sea transportation to ferry much needed fuel.
M/V Saver, owned by the Batanes Multi-Purpose Cooperative, Inc., is the only ship authorized to bring in fuel. It is, however, still in the dry dock where repairs are being made.
“It will be ready to start accepting cargoes by the first week of October,” according to its general manager.
Rep. Carlo Diasnes has taken advantage of the lack of fuel to enhance his sagging political image.
Since Saturday, Diasnes has been sending text messages to everyone, announcing that he met with Vice Admiral Ferdinand Golez, Navy chief, who allegedly promised to provide one of its transport ships to bring in emergency fuel. – Jack Castaño