OLONGAPO CITY — Mayor Rolen Paulino late afternoon Tuesday announced after a meeting with the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Private Sector Asset Liabilities Management Corp (PSALM) that the power cut scheduled Wednesday has been averted.
Two disconnection notices were received by the city government from PSALM and the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) last month implementing the disconnection order to Olongapo City-Public Utilities Department (OC-PUD) as per Memorandum: Ref, No. Net Access/GAP-RRA-2013-06-319 dated June 24, 2013.
In a telephone interview, Paulino said that the city, DOE and PSALM) agreed to cancel the disconnection of the city from the national grid line due to the unpaid power debt amounting to P5.09 billion that the previous administration left behind.
Paulino together with his team went to Manila to discuss the problem with DOE and PSALM.
He disclosed that the cancellation of the disconnection was based on the agreement that the city and PSALM would restructure the payment scheme.
On June 24, the city council passed a resolution for the payment scheme to its P5.08 billion power debt.
The resolution said that the city will pay PSALM P20 million a year from its Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA).
Residences and business establishments here commended the neophyte mayor for his immediate response to the problem.
