House Deputy Speaker and Bacolod Rep. Albee Benitez is pushing Congress to grant President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. emergency powers to tackle the Visayas power crisis.
The Philippines will use its ASEAN chairmanship to push for stronger regional safeguards against energy supply disruptions and faster cross-border power connectivity as Southeast Asian energy ministers meet in Manila this week.
Therma Visayas told lawmakers that it sources coal from Indonesia and uses the Indonesian Coal Index in its power supply agreements, as a House inquiry into electricity reliability in the Visayas turned attention to both supply security and pricing transparency.
Semirara Mining and Power Corporation (SMPC) is adjusting its workforce as persistent and rising seawater ingress restricts activity at its Acacia mine, with flows now overwhelming existing pumping capacity.