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BY GLENDA SOLOGASTOA
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ILOILO City – Top local officials see the expansion of the coal-fired power plant in Barangay Ingore, La Paz district as a boost to Iloilo’s economy.
It will not only provide Ilonggos more than enough electricity but also prove Iloilo’s business-friendliness, they said.
“Dapat malipay gid kita kay subong, bastante na kita (We should be very happy because right now, we have more than enough),” Gov. Arthur Defensor Sr. said at the switch-on of the 150-megawatt (MW) expansion Wednesday, Nov. 23.
Insufficient electricity was a major setback in Iloilo’s progress years ago, but with more power plants, the city and province of Iloilo now have an “oversupply” of 600 MW, said the governor.
“It is an indubitable assurance that we will have adequate supply of power, which is indispensible in our efforts toward progress and development,” he said.
The 15.6-billion expansion project is the Global Business Power’s (GBP) latest investment in Iloilo. In 2011 it poured in P20 billion for the first two 82-MW coal plants run by the Panay Energy Development Corp. (PEDC).
“This will assure us that progress and development in Iloilo will be continuous, and we can move forward as fast as we can,” said Defensor.
Meanwhile the city mayor, Jed Patrick Mabilog, said the plant expansion is a “testament” to Iloilo’s reputation as “an ideal investment destination.”
“We are more than ready to host investments that translate to more employment opportunities for Ilonggos,” Mabilog said.
“We are enjoying a steady stream of investments, especially in the real estate and service-oriented industries and business process outsourcing, thanks to enough energy supply,” he added.
Department of Energy secretary Alfonso Cusi led Wednesday’s switch-on along with Defensor, Mabilog, and GBP and PEDC officials./PN
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