EDITORIAL - Slipping back to dark ages

It has been months since Mindanao is beset with the problem of widespread brownouts due to power shortages. Reports said the crisis has just gotten much worse as the island slipped back to the dark ages.

In Zamboanga City and other parts of the island, what used to be a four-hour daily power interruption has become a pestering eight-hour agony for the residents. They had to contend with any available alternatives such as using candles during nighttime whenever a power interruption strikes.

In an attempt to solve the crisis, government officials and stakeholders in the power sector converged in Davao City to look for remedies. But, unfortunately, not a single solution to the problem was attained. The event was only dominated by deafening complaints, which reverberated through the four corners of Waterfront Insular Hotel.

Even the presence of President Benigno Aquino, who rushed down south to see for himself the situation there, did not bring much help in efforts to solve the power problem. His attendance only spawned intrigues over criticism he ignored the presence of boxing champion and Sarangani Representative Manny Pacquiao. 

Amid the worsening situation, pressures were mounting for the government to build more power plants on the country's second largest island, where hydro electricity is the main fare. There are even calls to establish a nuclear power plant in Mindanao to solve the problem once and for all. 

Power shortage is a normal problem in Mindanao. Twenty years ago during the administration of President Aquino's mother, the same crisis swept across the island for months, costing billions of pesos in losses.

Unfortunately since those days, there is really no significant improvement in Mindanao's power generation. The island remains largely reliant on hydro power plants, which are no longer sustainable.

Certainly, the government failed to learn a lesson from those dark days two decades ago. Now Mindanao has succumbed to another power crisis more economically devastating than ever.