'Panay blackout: Hurting tourism, harming businesses' --Sen. Nancy
...says outage validates PH clearly behind in energy solutions

Sen. Nancy Binay today voiced her apprehension regarding the repercussions of the extensive power outage in Western Visayas on the tourism industry, particularly the hospitality sector and local businesses.

Lights went out across the islands of Panay, Guimaras and Negros at around 2:27pm on Tuesday (January 2) due to the tripping of multiple power plants, thereby isolating the three islands from the rest of the Visayas grid.

According to Binay, the recent power outage only validates that the country is clearly behind schedule in developing energy solutions.

"Yung nangyaring blackout sa Western Visayas is a big dent to our country's development, and can be clearly taken as a sharp reminder na kailangan nating seryosong maghanap ng mga long-term solution para matugunan ang problema sa kuryente," the senator noted.

The unscheduled power outages plunged the three islands into darkness, and crippled almost the entire region forcing establishments without backup power to close shop.

"So, how do you promote tourism 'pag may mga ganitong unreliable power supply sa atin? The sad part, most of the inconveniences are usually experienced at small resorts that have not invested in any alternative power source. Even a 30-minute power outage, is already a nightmare for business. What more if it would take days?" Binay pointed out.

She added that in the tourism industry alone, as a result of brownouts, the direct and indirect economic repercussions are generally absorbed by the hospitality sector.

"Sa totoo lang, 'di lang ito nangyayari sa Western Visayas. Halos sa buong Pilipinas marami pa ring nasa sektor ng turismo ang kababangon lang mula sa pandemya--and admittedly, most of them are not prepared to deal with the increasing threat of power disruption, especially those in the island resorts," Binay added.

Aside from the broken appliances and food spoilage, Binay said that the constant power interruptions elevate the prospects of tourists cancelling their bookings for the holidays.

"Yung panay-panay ng brownout will always be a big concern. We know that these things happen beyond our control--but the persistent outages in the country are hurting our efforts to promote the Philippines as a frills-free holiday destination. Our guests come to our islands to enjoy and have a memorable time--but not these kinds of experiences," Binay pointed out.

The senator said that the role of electricity in the country's economy, particularly in tourism and other industries, is exceedingly significant for growth and development.

"Hindi na ito basta wake-up call--magiging bangungot na ito 'pag 'di pa rin natin naayos ang supply kuryente natin. For the short-term, I encourage the DOT to come up with a 'whole-of-industry approach' as far as corrective actions to arrest future prolonged brownouts in tourism destinations. Siguro, the DOT and TIEZA can help in providing establishments with power outage business continuity plans as part of the incident response protocols just to keep their operations running," Binay added.

She said that DOT should help draft a template for a contingency or continuity plan since most establishments do not have adequate plans to deal with energy- or communications-related failure.