Power shortfall in Visayas as much as 220 megawatts
The Visayas Grid yesterday experienced a shortfall in power during peak hours due to zero contingency reserve and generation deficiency.
Belinda Canlas, National Grid Corporation of the Philippines corporate communications officer-Visayas, said that the grid experienced a deficit of up to 220 megawatts during weekday peak hours with the shutdown of the three power plants in the grid.
These are the 50 MW Cebu Thermal 1 Plant, the 50 MW gas turbines of Salcon Power and the 120 MW Mahanagdong geothermal power plant in Leyte.
Canlas said that the first two plants are under preventive maintenance shutdown to make way for maintenance works or repairs, which will improve power facilities and services.
She said that Unit 2 of Mahanagdong is expected to be back online on February 8 while the Unit 1 is expected to be back on the grid on February 16.
Cebu Thermal 1 Plant, on the other hand, will be available starting February 23 yet.
Canlas further said that to reduce the impact of power interruptions to the customers, the Luzon Grid started augmenting its supply between to the Visayas Grid to between 70 to 100 MW yesterday morning.
At 2 p.m. yesterday, it was as high as 150 MW.
Ethel Natera, spokesperson of the Visayan Electric Company (VECO), said that power situation is break-even due to availability of Luzon's supply to the Visayas grid during the day.
However, Natera said at around 6 p.m., power shortage was experienced affecting parts of Mandaue City and downtown Cebu City.
Gwen: No Cause For Alarm
Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia yesterday said the 200 MW shortfall in power supply for the Visayas should not be a caused for alarm.
She assured the business sector that immediate measures were undertaken to address the problem.
Garcia told reporters that the 10-day temporary power situation caused by the Mahalagdong preventive maintenance shutdown, as well as some problems encountered by other power plants should not raise alarms bells unnecessarily.
"I remind everybody this is a temporary situation that we are facing, as we have reminded everyone time and again. We are doing something about the power situation." Garcia said.
She said that two power plants are being constructed promises to supply a total of 446 MW.
"To allay fears of others I am calling for a meeting tomorrow, of all concerned players, in order to address a temporary solution to a temporary situation."
Last week, officials of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) announced the 200 MW power shortage and explained it needed 10 days to conduct preventive maintenance on the Mahanagdong geothermal power plant starting last January 30.
Garcia said that they should not even try and ring their hands in despair and frustration and believe that this would scare away investors from Cebu.
"This kind of attitude is like we are banging our own head with our own hammer," Garcia said.
Garcia added that they already are looking at a more effective implementation of the interruptible load agreement.
She urged the business sector, which has voiced their concern about the shortage to do their share of solving the problem.
According to Garcia, several members of the business chambers have their own power generating capacity and can sign up to join the interruptible load agreement.
"Para kadtong mga ordinary nga konsumidor nga waly kapasidad dili maoy mag-antos," said Garcia.
Praise For Cemex
Several officials have praised Cemex for the additional 10 MW it provides VECO from its power plant.
Though this may not be much, it helps alleviate the lack of power.
Cemex, a cement manufacturing company based in Naga City, formally opened its substation yesterday.
Darwin Mariano, Cemex' public affairs director, said that the new CEMEX-VECO substation, a diesel-powered plant, has already started dispatching 10MW of its excess supply to Cebu since December last year.
The move, he said, is to "help alleviate" the province's power shortages.
City Officials Also Act
Acting Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama is scheduled to separately meet today with the officials of VECO and the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
Rama wants to be apprised of the power situation and decided to also meet Comelec to get some ideas about addressing power problems during the May 10 elections.
Rama said that one way to minimize the shortage of power is for the power consumers to minimize the unnecessary use of their appliances.
One of the solutions about the power shortage is the scheduled operation of one of the power plants owned by the Cebu Energy Development Corp. in barangay Sangi, Toledo City in the middle of this month.
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The same poll, conducted January 21 to 24 and covered 2,100 respondents, showed Villar's ratings rise from 33 percent in December to 35 percent despite the C-5 road controversy hounding him.
Aquino's camp, however, was unfazed by the latest survey.
"We're not worried. Senator Noy's numbers are stable and within the margin of error. Senator Villar's increase is due to massive ad placements on TV and radio," said Quezon Rep. Erin Tañada, spokesman of Liberal Party (LP), Aquino's political group.
Tañada noted that the survey was conducted before the Senate report on Villar's alleged use of his influence to benefit financially from the C-5 road construction came out.
BusinessWorld and information from the Liberal Party showed former President Joseph Estrada - whose bid for re-election was recently allowed by the Commission on Elections - on third place a 13-percent rating, two percentage points down from the last survey.
Lakas-Kampi-CMD standard bearer Gilberto Teodoro maintained his spot in the fourth place with 4 percent, although his rating decreased by 1 percentage point. He was followed by Senator Richard Gordon and Jesus is Lord leader Bro. Eddie Villanueva, who each got 2 percent.
According to BusinessWorld, Senator Jamby Madrigal got 0.4 percent, Kilusang Bagong Lipunan standard bearer Vetellano Acosta got 0.3 percent, Ang Kapatiran's JC Delos Reyes got 0.2 percent, and environmentalist Nicanor Perlas got 0.1 percent.
Two percent said they were still undecided, said BusinessWorld.
For the vice presidential race, Aquino's running-mate, Senator Manuel "Mar" Roxas II widened his lead over his closest rival, Senator Loren Legarda. Roxas garnered a 49-percent rating, 6 percentage points up from another SWS survey that covered December 5-10.
Legarda's rating, meanwhile, went down from 32 percent in the same period to 28 percent. Legarda is the running-mate of Villar.
Estrada's running-mate, Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay, got a 16-percent rating, which was up by 6 percentage points from December 5-10. He was followed by Gordon's runningmate, former Metropolitan Manila Development Authority chair Bayani Fernando, and Teodoro's running-mate, former Optical Media Board head Edu Manzano, who both got 2 percent.
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"The Philippines is not the original or intended end-user of that shipment. It was originally bound for Hong Kong but apparently, natunugan ng grupo (the group learned) that they are under surveillance," she said.
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), an agency under the Justice Department, however, has received reports that that some bricks of cocaine were being hoarded by some fishermen.
Devanadera warned them of possible criminal liabilities should they be caught in possession of the illegal drug.
"Hindi ibig sabihin na napulot lang ninyo ay wala na kayong liability. You would also be punished. You have criminal liability pag nahulihan kayo, hindi kayo makakalabas ng kulungan," she said.
(Claims that you just got hold of the illegal drug from somewhere will not absolve you. You will still have criminal liability which can send you to jail.)
Possession of illegal drugs in the Philippines is a non-bailable offense and carries with it life imprisonment under Republic Act 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
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Print still losing ground to TV, radio
Overall media spending totalled P52.2 billion in October to December, up 14% from the P45.9 billion recorded in the same period in 2008.
Some three-fourths of the amount, or P38.9 billion, went to television, an increase of 16% from the comparable period last year. Radio, meanwhile, gained 12% to P10.1 billion.
Print, however, saw its share shrink by 3% to P3.1 billion.
Eric V. Barrera, director for client services of Nielsen Media Research, toldBusinessWorld in a telephone interview that advertisers were slowly shifting content to a medium deemed as "more mass-based".
"Filipinos are highly into basic goods so there is a more mass-based advertising. This is not new but the continuing decline of print shows the slow shift of content of advertisers to mass mediums," Mr. Barrera said.
He added that advertisers may be "following media habits of Filipinos who are more into audiovisuals."
TV cornered 75% of advertisers' media spending, up from 73% a year earlier. Radio saw its share rise one point to 19%, while print went the other way with a percentage point fall to 6%.
Advertisers agreed with the assessment of Nielsen.
"Most advertisers opted for surest way to gain awareness which is TV. Radio showed increase because it's a cost-efficient medium and reaches people who are more mobile. Consumers also spend less on print. Free media like TV and radio consumed more," said Mitos Borromeo, chairman of the Media Specialists Association of the Philippines.
Margot B. Torres, president of the Philippine Association of National Advertisers, said "TV has national reach and is more efficient. Radio also has wide reach whether stations via satellite or local stations, but print is mainly in Metro Manila."
But print, said Nielsen's Mr. Barrera, is "not dying."
Mr. Borromeo said: "Print over the last two years have seen national advertising spending decline with consumer goods and telecommunication companies putting up less double digit placements, but there is still support coming from other companies who are targeting upper classes. This is also good for magazines since its target market is the middle and upper class."
The top advertiser during the period was Unilever Philippines, Inc. which spent P5.36 billion, a 15% increase. It was followed by Procter & Gamble Philippines, Inc., whose spending increased 42% to P4.39 billion, and Nestle Philippines, Inc. which kept its outlay at P3 billion.
One of the highest advertisers in the last quarter of 2009 was presidential aspirant Sen. Manuel B. Villar, who was the only individual, at 14th place, in a list of the top 20 advertisers. Mr. Villar spent P543 million from October to December 2009, a 551% increase from last year.
Mr. Villar's camp could not be contacted for comment.
With the official campaign period for the May 10 elections set to start next week, both Ms. Torres and Mr. Borromeo said ad spending would likely increase.
"[We will see] advertising spending increase this year because advertisers will continue to advertise and political candidates will as well," Ms. Torres said.
Joan Crawford - "I, Joan Crawford, I believe in the dollar. Everything I earn, I spend."
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