Palace working with Congress to ensure stable
power supply next year
Malacañang said it continues to work with Congress
to come up with an acceptable solution to the impending power shortage during
summer next year.
"The government wants to ensure a stable
supply and reasonably priced electricity for our people during the summer
months of 2015," Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary
Herminio Coloma, Jr. said in a press briefing at the Palace on Tuesday.
"We will continue working with Congress in
providing an appropriate response and a satisfactory solution: stable and
reliable supply at rates that are reasonable and not excessive or
abusive," he added.
According to Secretary Coloma, the Department of
Energy (DOE) has said that even if there is no actual power shortage in the
summer of 2015, reserves will likely be thin.
Should there be unexpected breakdowns or
unscheduled maintenance of electric power plants, the thin reserves could be
depleted and result in rotational brownouts, he explained.
The House of Representatives is currently
discussing the proposed joint congressional resolution to grant the President
emergency powers to address the projected electricity shortage next year. PND
(as)
Palace defends government's post-typhoon Yolanda
response
The government on Tuesday clarified that there was
no delay in its response during the aftermath of Typhoon Yolanda and that
assistance to affected communities has continued since disaster struck Eastern
Visayas.
"Linawin lang natin: Hindi nabalam, hindi naantala,
hindi nahadlangan ang pagbibigay ng kalinga, ang pagpapatupad ng mga proyektong
puwede nang ipatupad," Presidential Communications Operations Office
Secretary Herminio Coloma, Jr. said in a press briefing in Malacañang.
"Tuloy-tuloy ang pagkilos ng pamahalaan para
tugunan ang pangangailangan ng libu-libong pamilyang nasalanta ng Typhoon
Yolanda o Haiyan."
Five clusters organized by the government began to
work after the typhoon hit the country, Coloma noted.
These five clusters under the Office of the
Presidential Assistant for Rehabilitation and Recovery are: infrastructure
under the Department of Public Works and Highways; resettlement under the
Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council and National Housing
Authority; social services under the Department of Social Welfare and
Development; livelihood under the Department of Trade and Industry; and support
under the National Economic and Development Authority and Department of Budget
and Management.
While the government was crafting the
comprehensive master plan, these five clusters have been addressing the needs
of the affected communities, Coloma said.
The rehabilitation of these areas began during the
first week of July, or eight months after the typhoon hit Eastern Visayas, he
said, noting that this is four months earlier compared to rehabilitation
efforts in other parts of the world hit by calamities of a similar magnitude.
He further said that the Budget Department has
already released funds for various projects and several agencies have also
provided quick response funds.
Presidential Assistant for Rehabilitation and
Recovery Secretary Panfilo Lacson last August 1 submitted to the President the
complete plans of the local government units (LGUs) after conducting a
post-disaster needs assessment.
The plans were in line with the National Disaster
Risk Reduction Management Act of 2010.
"At alinsunod sa utos ng Pangulo, bubuuin ang
mas detalyadong timetable sa pagpapatupad ng master plan. In other words, ang
hinihintay na lang naman ngayon ay ang mas detailed na timetable," he
said.
Secretary Coloma said the government is trying to
overcome administrative hurdles, such as finding available land, as mentioned
by the President.
"Makatitiyak tayo na ginagawa ng pamahalaan
ang lahat ng nararapat para malagpasan ang mga tinatawag nating hindering
factors; at nalagpasan na ang marami diyan," he said. PND (as)
Government has right of way in road-widening
project in Leyte, says Palace
The government has the right of way in the project
to expand roads in Palo, Leyte, Presidential Communications Operations Office
Secretary Herminio Coloma, Jr. said on Tuesday.
"Ayon po kay (Public Works) Secretary
(Rogelio) Singson, ang pinapairal ng DPWH (Department of Public Works and
Highways) ay ang road right of way, na karapatan ng pamahalaan. At sa pagkilos
po nila ay kinokonsulta at nakikipag-ugnayan po sila sa mga local government
units and affected stakeholders," Coloma told reporters during a press
briefing in Malacañang.
He was responding to a question on the fate of
heritage homes that will be affected by the road-widening project in Palo.
"Ayon din po sa kanyang katugunan ay wala pa
silang partikular na aksyon doon sa mga itinuturing na ancestral homes,"
he added.
According to media reports, the DPWH has begun
demolishing some houses in Palo to expand the road by 10 meters from the center
line, in preparation for the visit of Pope Francis in Tacloban City in January
next year.
The project will reportedly cover a number of
ancestral houses in the town of Palo and Tacloban City. PND (ag)
