Camp Lukban, Catbalogan City, Samar – For calendar year 2011, Headquarters 8ID and its units experienced frequent, sudden and unannounced power outages which resulted to the damage of a number of equipment and appliances. When services provided by the Samar II Electric Cooperative Inc. (SAMELCO II) went from bad to worse, MGEN MARIO F CHAN AFP, Commander 8th Infantry Division sent a letter on December 14, 2011 to Honorable Jose Rene D. Almendras, Secretary of the Department of Energy (DOE) requesting the Honorable Secretary to intervene in order to protect consumers’ interests. MGEN CHAN has endeavoured to bring to task those responsible for the poor electricity service in Samar.
Having recognized the merit of the Army unit’s complaint in Samar, Attorney Josefina Patricia M. Asirit, Chief of Staff/Undersecretary of the Department of Energy called the attention of the management of SAMELCO II in a letter sent by the DOE on January 4, 2012. The DOE wanted SAMELCO II to comment on the complaint of poor service lodged by the Army unit.
After more than a month, Engineer Gervacio C. Chavez Jr., OIC-General Manager of SAMELCO II, sent a letter explanation to the DOE on February 21, 2012. SAMELCO II also provided a copy of the same letter to Major General Chan. The letter essentially puts the blame of the poor services and power interruptions on the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) when SAMELCO II said “NGCP sustained line fault or NGCP scheduled power interruption”.
It is interesting to note that SAMELCO II accuses the NGCP as the cause of most power interruptions while acknowledging only a smaller share of it. With this, the 8ID is now in the process of seeking an explanation from the NGCP on the veracity of this accusation.
At the end of the day, someone must be held responsible for the poor electricity service and must make up for it. The 8th Infantry Division in its role as a catalyst for development as stipulated in IPSP “Bayanihan” and as one of the biggest electricity consumers in the Province intends to see this done for the benefit of the consumers. ###
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