PGMA orders quick, cheap solutions to Mindanao's power woes
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President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo instructed today the Cabinet to come up with quick and cheap solutions to
end Mindanao’s power problems.
Largely supplied by hydroelectric power plants, the country’s bread basket has been experiencing rotating
power outages as a result of the El Nino phenomenon, which will likely delay the onset of the rainy season until
late June.
In a media briefing after the joint Cabinet-National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) meeting in
Malacanang, Executive Secretary Leandro Mendoza said Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes presented five options
on how to address the problem.
Mendoza said these options include among others, the lease of generators and the sharing of excess power
from other areas to Mindanao subscribers.
Press Secretary Crispulo Icban Jr., who was also at the briefing, said another short-term solution possibly is to
move in power barges capable of generating additional 200 megawatts of electricity for Mindanao.
Icban said another option discussed would be to enjoin interested companies in Mindanao to shift their
industrial operations from day time to night time or from 10:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. when power demand is off peak.
“These options will be deliberated by a selected group of Cabinet members with instructions from the President
to decide “within two or three days,” Mendoza said.
The select group include the secretaries of the Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Finance (DOF),
Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Department of National Defense (DND), who also chairs the National
Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC).
Mendoza said the shortage in power supply is confined only to Mindanao, with the Luzon and Visayas grids
having enough and even excess power.
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RP medical tourism: a $3 B industry by 2015
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Even the next administration will continue to gain from the growing medical tourism industry which is expected
to become a $3-billion industry by 2015.
This was pointed out by National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) Director Dennis Arroyo during the
press briefing that followed the joint NEDA-Cabinet meeting held this morning in Malacanang.
Arroyo said that around 200,000 foreign patients are expected to come to the Philippines every year which would
tremendously help boost tourism into a $3-billion industry by 2015.
In 2006, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo started promoting the Philippines as a medical tourism and
retirement haven with the issuance of Executive Order 372 which aims to develop the Philippines
communication industry, logistics and health and wellness.
The Philippines now ranks among the top countries in medical tourism with the continuous renovation and
upgrading of more hospitals to meet international standards.
In the Central Philippines tourism super region, the base of the country’s tourism industry, there are now 44
hospitals and health facilities accredited for medical tourism by the Department of Health (DOH) and the
Department of Tourism (DOT). Three of these medical facilities have been accredited by the Joint Commission
International (JCI), an international organization providing accreditation for hospitals and other healthcare
facilities worldwide.
Arroyo said among our advantages are our state-of-the-art facilities, competent health care professionals with
excellent English communication skills, reasonably priced medical services, and the innate hospitality of
Filipinos.
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