(Taguig City) The Inter-Agency Task Force on Securing Energy Facilities (IATFSEF), headed by the Department of Energy (DOE), enforces security measures to ensure power supply adequacy reliability during the local and national elections in May.
Following the issuance of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) Resolution No. 10067, concerned members of the IATFSEF are deputized to provide sufficient personnel to secure power assets nationwide, implement clearing of trees, infrastructures and any obstructions beneath the transmission facilities, safeguard the area of the transmission Tower No. 25 located along the Agus 2-Kibawe 138kV line enabling rehabilitation to proceed, and provide pertinent information to cause prosecution of violators of the election code.
The IATFSEF, in close coordination with COMELEC, notes that these measures are in response to the earlier bombing incidents and right-of-way issues compromising the power supply security in Mindanao grid that caused the isolation of Agus 1 and Agus 2 Hydro Power Plants, depriving Mindanao customers with 82 megawatts of generation capacity, resulting in power trippings and rotating outages in some provinces.
“The Government, through the IATFSEF, is in full force to implement all necessary measures to ensure sufficient supply of electric power ahead of the critical election period,” said Energy Secretary Zenaida Y. Monsada, emphasizing that the immediate repair and restoration of Tower No. 25 will help stabilize the power supply in Mindanao in time for the elections.
The IATFSEF assures the public that it is exhausting all legal means for the speedy resolution of the nationwide transmission concerns beyond the election period to ensure sustained economic growth for the entire country.
Furthermore, Secretary Monsada also calls on the public and local government units as well as the private sector for their continued cooperation and vigilance in ensuring security and integrity of all energy facilities. Likewise, all electricity consumers are encouraged to observe energy efficiency and conservation in their day-to-day activities.
It may be recalled that the IATFSEF was formed to prevent any similar untoward incidents to occur in the future and to facilitate immediate restoration of the damaged transmission Tower No. 25, which was aggravated by the denial of the claimants of the property, where the power assets are located, to allow the restoration team to conduct preventive maintenance and rehabilitation of the affected transmission facilities.