MANILA (UPDATE) — Malacanang on Friday reported that measures are currently being undertaken to address the ongoing power supply crisis in Siquijor Province, following the directive of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said that a one-megawatt rental genset of the Siquijor Island Power Corporation (SIPCOR) has already arrived in the province, which is intended to provide a short-term solution to the energy woes of the province.

“Ngayong araw ay darating din ang two-megawatt gensets ng NEA mula sa Palawan na ikakarga naman sa isang chartered LCT patungong Siquijor. Sa loob po ng 11 hours ay makakarating na ito,” Castro said.

The President has ordered that the generator sets be installed and commissioned before June 15, the official said.

Meanwhile, Castro said the Energy Regulatory Commission is set to issue a show cause order to the Villar-owned SIPCOR to explain supposed problems with its rental genset.

“Sa ngayon, ang pinadalang genset ng SIPCOR ay may problema rin – hindi gumagana nang maayos kaya mag-i-issue ng show cause order ang ERC sa SIPCOR,” she said.

Marcos has ordered a full legal review and audit of the power supply agreement between local power cooperative PROSIELCO (Province of Siquijor Electric Cooperative, Inc.) and SIPCOR, as he vowed to hold accountable those behind the power crisis in the province.

SIPCOR, a subsidiary of the Villar-owned Prime Asset Ventures, Inc., currently has a “20-year power supply agreement (PSA) with PROSIELCO, providing 12.86MW of power through bunker-fired power generation facilities and power stations to serve almost 31,493 households and commercial infrastructures on the island since 2014.”

“Maraming isyu ang dapat tugunan ng SIPCOR – very low fuel supply inventory, delayed procurement and unavailability of spare parts, and unsynchronized preventive maintenance of diesel power facilities, power plant operations with expired certificate of compliance and rental generator sets operating without permits,” Castro said.

Meanwhile, SIPCOR acknowledged there was a problem with a generator set that it sent to Siquijor.  

"During the testing and commissioning of the second generator set (genset), a technical issue was identified involving the radiator motor, which now requires immediate replacement," the company said.

SIPCOR said it chartered a flight to bring a replacement unit to the province, which it expects to install within the day.

"SIPCOR assures the public that we are taking all necessary measures to restore operations promptly and minimize service disruptions," the company added.