By Senior Citizens Party-list Rep. Rodolfo Ordanes
I urge the Department of Energy, National Electrification Administration (NEA), Transco and power distributors to work together on coordinated projects to lay underground power lines in towns along the Pacific sides of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
Let these super typhoon Uwan and typhoon Tino serve as the final lessons that will give a strong and lasting push for a resilient electrification program focused on underground power lines.
Last Aug. 12, 2025, there was a groundbreaking ceremony for underground power distribution (UDS) lines at the Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport in Casiguran, Aurora. That freeport is near where Uwan made landfall in Dinalungan, also in Aurora Province.
I recall that way back in May 2016, NEA had its first UDS project in Batanes with the Batanes Electric Cooperative (Batanelco). The NEA budget for that was P109.459 million.
I am also aware that Meralco plans to expand its underground power cable system by installing 1,500 circuit kilometers of new lines by 2030.
These projects are capital-intensive, so instead of sourcing all the funding from the national budget, the cost burden can be borne through public-private partnerships, expanded BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer), issuance of long-term government bonds and concessional loans from institutions like the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and Japan International Cooperation Agency.