OPINION
Advocates Philippines
EDITORIAL: San Simon Pampanga LGU Holds Pampanga Province as Hostage as Tiff with NGCP Unresolved
Photo credit: Mayor Jun Punsalan and NGCP Facebook
There may be a looming energy problem in the Province of Pampanga as the Local Government Unit of San Simon claims that the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) does not have the necessary permits and clearances to continue the construction of a 230-kilovolt (kV) substation in that town.
Mayor Abundio Jun “JP” Simbulan Punsalan Jr. is about to guarantee the power crisis in Pampanga as he stubbornly refuses the release of the documents needed for the substation’s construction. Mayor Punsalan Jr. signed a closure order dated Sept. 9 and seemingly has no plans to allow its operation in the area.
The NGCP, however, said it had presented to the local government unit of San Simon a copy of the building permit it issued for the project in June 2021 before the construction of the substation. It is reported that the project would cost around P2.8 Billion as it aims to integrate transmission lines.
“Without this substation, the reliability of transmission services in the Pampanga area is threatened, and power interruptions are a real possibility,” the NGCP said. Likewise, the NGCP said the substation was certified as an Energy Project of National Significance (EPNS) by the Department of Energy in 2019.
It is worth noting that Punsalan had been suspended in 2020 and 2021. In 2020, Punsalan was suspended by Pampanga Governor Dennis Pineda for alleged involvement in the purchase of land near the town hall. In 2021, it was the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) that served the suspension order of Punsalan. Sun Star reported that Punsalan's suspension last year came after the Provincial Board found him and five other councilors guilty of dishonesty, grave misconduct in office, gross negligence in the performance of official duties, gross dereliction of duty and grave abuse of authority when they purchased a parcel of land near the municipal hall in 2020.
The San Simon 230-kV substation is designed as an alternate source of power for customers connected to the Mexico substation.
In its website, The NGCP describes itself as a privately owned corporation in charge of operating, maintaining, and developing the country's state-owned power grid, an interconnected system that transmits gigawatts of power at thousands of volts from where it is made to where it is needed.
With reports from Manila Bulletin, Sun Star, CLTV, Bilyonaryo, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Philippine News Agency
Mayor Abundio Jun “JP” Simbulan Punsalan Jr. is about to guarantee the power crisis in Pampanga as he stubbornly refuses the release of the documents needed for the substation’s construction. Mayor Punsalan Jr. signed a closure order dated Sept. 9 and seemingly has no plans to allow its operation in the area.
The NGCP, however, said it had presented to the local government unit of San Simon a copy of the building permit it issued for the project in June 2021 before the construction of the substation. It is reported that the project would cost around P2.8 Billion as it aims to integrate transmission lines.
“Without this substation, the reliability of transmission services in the Pampanga area is threatened, and power interruptions are a real possibility,” the NGCP said. Likewise, the NGCP said the substation was certified as an Energy Project of National Significance (EPNS) by the Department of Energy in 2019.
It is worth noting that Punsalan had been suspended in 2020 and 2021. In 2020, Punsalan was suspended by Pampanga Governor Dennis Pineda for alleged involvement in the purchase of land near the town hall. In 2021, it was the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) that served the suspension order of Punsalan. Sun Star reported that Punsalan's suspension last year came after the Provincial Board found him and five other councilors guilty of dishonesty, grave misconduct in office, gross negligence in the performance of official duties, gross dereliction of duty and grave abuse of authority when they purchased a parcel of land near the municipal hall in 2020.
The San Simon 230-kV substation is designed as an alternate source of power for customers connected to the Mexico substation.
In its website, The NGCP describes itself as a privately owned corporation in charge of operating, maintaining, and developing the country's state-owned power grid, an interconnected system that transmits gigawatts of power at thousands of volts from where it is made to where it is needed.
With reports from Manila Bulletin, Sun Star, CLTV, Bilyonaryo, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Philippine News Agency
Oct 24, 2022
