A scheduled power blackout was temporarily averted in San Jose and three other towns of Occidental Mindoro after the municipal government of San Jose lent cash-strapped National Power Corporation P20 million to buy bunker fuel, Mayor Jose T. Villarosa said.
Villarosa said that the municipality of San Jose will be lending six days’ worth of crude oil to Napocor for the continued operation of its power barges while the Occidental Mindoro Electric Cooperative (OMECO) will lend for another four days.
The state power corporation earlier announced that its power reserve would last only until last Friday, saying that San Jose, Magsaysay, Rizal and Calintaan would be hit by a power blackout starting last Saturday.
Napocor’s supplier refused to deliver fuel apparently due to unpaid arrears.
mindoropost.com 
[…] Power crisis in Occidental Mindoro averted, for now (mindoropost.com) […]
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As the power crisis looms, Occidental Mindoro governor Josephine Ramirez-Sato sought an audience with Pres. Benigno Simeon Aquino precisely to address the problem and as a result, Malacanang earmarked over a billion pesos for National Power Corporation to pay its obligations with fuel suppliers.
I understand that the P20M lent by San Jose shall be reimbursed as soon as the Department of Budget and Management released the fund.
However, it should be noted that the power problem in the province is far from over. The northern part, from Sablayan town to Abra de Ilog, rely on energy coming from Oriental Mindoro. Eventually, the more advanced “sister” province shall be needing in the future its excess power now.
Also, Napocor, delayed as it is, shall be privatized soon. We will be left to our devises.
But all these could have been avoided if only the Island Power Corp (IPC), owned by Cong. Amelita Villarosa and her husband, San Jose mayor Jose Villarosa, operates its power plant based on its exclusive contract with Occidental Mindoro Electric Coop, Inc. (OMECO).
The IPC has stopped its operation for about four years now. Despite its non-operation, the independent power producer keeps on blocking the entry of other IPPs, invoking its exclusive contract with OMECO.
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