• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
House Deputy Speaker Alfredo Abelardo Benitez is urging the establishment of a dedicated island-based baseload power plant in the Visayas to combat chronic electricity shortages and safeguard the region’s long-term energy security.
Addressing persistent brownouts and manual load dropping that continue to disrupt households, schools, hospitals, and local businesses, Benitez pointed to coal as the most practical and cost-effective option for steady baseload power.
The Bacolod City Lone District representative, however, said that he will first consult with the provincial governments of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental to assess their willingness to host the facility.
Benitez expressed concern over the current distribution of the nation’s power infrastructure, warning that the Visayas is falling behind while major generation facilities remain heavily concentrated in Luzon and Mindanao.
“Isa ka weakness nakita ta, ang mga power plants, gusto lang kon diin magpatindog (One weakness we’ve seen is that power plants are built only where developers want to put them),” Benitez said, arguing that energy planning must prioritize actual regional demand over developer preference.
Emphasizing that reliable electricity is a basic necessity rather than a luxury, Benitez advocated for internal generation capacity within the Visayas instead of a heavy reliance on external power grids.
Building a robust local baseload supply is critical to stabilizing the grid and keeping pace with the region’s economic growth, he stressed. | GPB
