Tuesday, August 28, 2007 Kalinga board members open to power source exploration
KALINGA officials welcome the idea of exploring energy sources in the province to mitigate the likely power shortage by year 2010.
Kalinga Board Member Eduardo Buliyat said the exploration of natural resources should not be confined to mining of mineral resources but should also delve into exploring possible energy sources.
Buliyat said that by year 2010, Northern Luzon would be in need of at least 600 megawatt to supply the needed energy consumption in the area. Having seen the potential of the province as energy source, he said there are entities coming here to explore the possibility of establishing power plants.
"Some of them have already instigated the planning stage, executing a memorandum of agreement with residents to explore potential power sources here," he told reporters during the oath taking of the newly elected League of Municipalities of the Philippine (LMP) in the province.
Balbalan Mayor Allen Jesse Mangaoang, who is the newly elected LMP-Kalinga vice president, also expressed support to the establishment of local power resources.
"As regards foreseen water shortage (water being the major resource to run power plants), Kalinga will need at least eight megawatts by 2008 and the National Power Corporation is not capable of delivering that by the time the problem in water shortage in 2010, so it is our part as local government units (LGUs) to tap our local resources to ensure future consumption needs," he said.
Mangaoang said the LGU welcomes investors to develop power sources in the locality. If these potentials are tapped, the LGU would be able to produce its own cheap and energy friendly power sources.
"If funding agencies could provide us with soft loans, then we could do it (development) ourselves," he said.
Revealing that one of the Balbalan Municipal Government's visions is to achieve energy independence and generating income from local power sources, Mangaoang said the LGU could only achieve its goal to become a city like Tabuk if it would be able to generate much income from its local power sources.
With the looming energy crisis, Kalinga, which has abundant water sources, is seen as an ideal investment potential for mini-and-micro hydro energy source. There were also proposals made to explore geothermal energy sources found, particularly in the municipalities of Pasil, Tinglayan and Tanudan.
Energy independence is a permanent feature of the national policy laid down by the Arroyo administration. In its energy reform agenda, the government aimed that by 2010, the country will be 60-percent energy self-sufficient shielding the country from the price volatility of imported energy.
Towards this endeavor, the Philippines is well on its way to developing alternative fuels like thermal, wind and solar. At the same time, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has clamped down on price gouging and has secured a steady supply of fuel for the country.
The volatility of world oil prices and pockets of instability in the Middle East and Africa -- and the finite supply of fossil fuels -- pose both a challenge and an opportunity, which should drive all agencies, institutions and communities to search and exploit all alternative sources of energy.
To achieve this goal, Arroyo declared through Executive Order 290, (Department of Energy Act of 1992) that "it is the policy of the state to ensure continues, adequate and economic supply of energy through the integrated and intensive exploration, production management and development of the country's indigenous energy sources, with due regards to ecological sources."
