SEN. Sherwin Gatchalian called on Saturday on concerned agencies to promptly resolve the recurring power interruptions across the country.
Gatchalian’s appeal was addressed to the Department of Energy (DOE), the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) and the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).
This comes as the NGCP continued to raise red and yellow alerts over the Luzon and Visayas grids due to the simultaneous forced outages of several power plants. The action increased concerns over the stability of the country’s electricity supply amid soaring summer temperatures and increased energy demand.
”Many government agencies are implementing a four-day work week due to tensions in the Middle East, but brownouts are still occurring in various parts of the country. This is unacceptable,” Gatchalian said.
The senator emphasized the need for accountability among power generation companies if repeated plant shutdowns are found to be the primary cause of the supply disruptions.
”If recurring plant outages are driving the problem, generation companies must be made to answer. The ERC should enforce compliance with performance standards and take action against erring plants,” he said.
Gatchalian warned that prolonged power interruptions continue to severely affect businesses, schools, hospitals and households nationwide.
”Every hour of a brownout brings business operations to a standstill, disrupts the education of our youth and paralyzes the daily lives of our communities. Most critically, it puts at risk patients whose survival depends on electricity-powered medical equipment,” he added.
The lawmaker reiterated his long-standing call for the NGCP to strengthen proactive grid management measures, particularly by securing sufficient ancillary services to stabilize the transmission system and prevent outages during periods of peak demand.
Energy experts have noted that ancillary services — such as reserve power and frequency regulation — are critical in maintaining grid reliability, especially when major power plants unexpectedly go offline.
Gatchalian said the public deserves transparency and decisive intervention from authorities as rotating outages continue to affect consumers and industries alike.
”This situation cannot be repeated. We need a clear explanation, immediate action and accountability from the authorities,” he said.
The DOE and ERC have yet to issue a statement on the senator’s latest remarks.
Meanwhile, consumer advocacy group ILAW Pilipinas criticized the NGCP and power generators over the rotational brownouts affecting consumers in Luzon and Visayas.
ILAW said recent power disruptions could not be treated as isolated incidents, pointing instead to structural weaknesses in the country’s energy system and failures in grid management and generation reliability.
The group cited the tripping of the Ilijan–Dasmariñas and Ilijan–Tayabas 500-kilovolt transmission lines, which are operated by the NGCP, saying the incident disrupted an estimated 2,400 megawatts of electricity supply to the Luzon grid and triggered cascading instability.
”These transmission lines are critical arteries of the country’s power system,” ILAW said, adding that when major facilities fail, reserves become strained and consumers ultimately experience rotational blackouts.
ILAW questioned the adequacy of contingency measures and reserve activation protocols during emergencies, arguing that the grid operator should not rely on load shedding as a primary response while supply is lost.
The group criticized power generators for what it described as the continued operation of aging and failure-prone plants, calling for stricter regulatory oversight and preventive maintenance to ensure reliability of supply.
Consumers, it said, have borne repeated outages caused by what it described as long-standing structural issues in the energy sector, along with rising electricity costs and economic losses for small businesses during outages.
ILAW estimated that some affected businesses may incur losses of up to P100,000 per interruption, warning that repeated disruptions compound the burden on communities already facing underperforming distribution systems.
While acknowledging the role of renewable energy in long-term planning, the group said current supply gaps during peak nighttime demand underscored the need for a more balanced and diversified energy mix.
Energy security, it stressed, could not rely on a single technology or source and required coordinated use of all available reliable generation capacities.
The group urged government agencies, regulators, transmission operators, and generators to end blame-shifting and focus on reforms, including improved infrastructure planning, stronger reserve procurement and modernization of transmission systems.
It said that it recognized efforts by the DOE to coordinate with NGCP, generators and distribution utilities in addressing supply shortfalls and implementing emergency demand management programs such as the Interruptible Load Program.
ILAW said sustained reforms were necessary to prevent recurring grid emergencies, especially as electricity demand rises and climate-related risks intensify.
