State of calamity for outages mulled By Mario J. Mallari and Aytch S. de la Cruz 03/11/2010

Lease of power barges up State of calamity for outages mulled By Mario J. Mallari and Aytch S. de la Cruz 03/11/2010 Defense Secretary Norberto Gonzales yesterday recommended to President Arroyo that she declare a state of calamity in Mindanao for the government to properly address the ongoing power crisis in Mindanao. “I think it’s really necessary that we declare a state of calamity in Mindanao, so we are recommending to the President that we will be declaring a state of calamity in Mindanao, entire Mindanao,” Gonzales told Camp Aguinaldo reporters after a meeting regarding the Mindanao power crisis at the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC). Gonzales, also concurrent chairman of the NDCC, said the recommendation will not specify duration but vowed that such move will be lifted as soon as the power situation “normalizes.” When asked if the measures will include lease of generator sets, Gonzales hedged, saying “The DoE will be studying all of those,” he said. Gonzales dropped broad hints that the proposed state of calamity will be in effect until July when rains are expected to come. “The problem is that most of Mindanao is more dependent on hydropower and the supply of water has really been (depleted) so we hope that there will be rain or typhoons by July,” he said..... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune ALTERNATE URL: http://www.tribune.net.ph/headlines/20100311hed1.html

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