CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) Region 10 welcomed the rehabilitation of Agus-Pulangi Hydro Power Complex (APHPC) but asked the agency to be transparent in spending the P16.71-billion budget..
Director Mylah Faye Cariño of NEDA-10, said the rehabilitation of the APHPC has long been delayed. Her agency together with the Northern Mindanao Regional Development Council approved the project in 2019. “That (APHPC) was endorsed. There is an on-going discussion with the NEDA board at the national level, but it is a priority. We are hoping that it would soon commence once it is approved by the NEDA board.”
“Our concern is to ensure that we should have more than ample supply of energy for Mindanao Area,” Cariño said.
On June 28, 2022, just 2 days before the term of President Rodrigo Duterte ended, the Department of Finance (DOF) announced that they are now on the final stages of fine-tuning proposed arrangement with the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM) and National Power Corp. (NPC) for the project that would cost an estimated P16.71-billion.
In a press statement, the DOF stated “Series of Project 1 is already pending approval by the NEDA and the MOA for the proposed arrangement for the loan is being reviewed by the DOF,” NPC Officer-in-Charge (OIC) Senior Vice President Melchor Ridulme .”
Engineer David Tauli, director of the Institute of Power Sector Economics (IPSEC), a Mindanao-based energy think thank said that the project must done with transparency.
“That (APHPC) was endorsed. There is an on-going discussion with the NEDA board at the national level, but it is a priority. We are hoping that it would soon commence once it is approved by the NEDA board,” Cariño said.
“The Agus Pulangi plants must be rehabilitated. But done properly, with full transparency on the part of the national government officials,” Tauli said.
The APHPC is the only asset of the National Power Corporation that has not been privatized yet.
Gerry Arances of ecology and energy think thank Center for Ecology, Energy and Development (CEED) welcomed the rehabilitation.
“Sustainability advocates, consumers, communities, and local stakeholders in Mindanao have long been urging the government to prioritize the rehabilitation of Agus-Pulangi,” Arances said.
“After allowing installed capacity of coal in Mindanao to rise by nearly ten times in the last decade – from 232 MW to 2,089 MW – this is certainly a welcome direction. We hope this is a sign that lessons were learned on how unwise it was to flood Mindanao with coal, which only burdened communities and consumers with pollution and higher electricity rates,” Arances added.
Arances added that more than the rehab of APHPC, the government must have a comprehensive plan to make access to the vast potential for renewables in Mindanao within reach of every household.
“This rehabilitation project cannot be a token effort for sustainability, which it will be if plans to eventually phase out coal and to halt the planned entry of another dirty energy source – fossil gas – are nowhere in sight,” Arances said.
Cariño also said that the government is pushing for more renewable energy projects in Mindanao.
“What we really want to change is we would have more power coming from renewables,” Cariño said.-Bobby Lagsa
