President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said that rather than assigning blame, his guiding principle is to focus on solving the problem first, stressing that immediate action should always take precedence over finger-pointing.
President Marcos’ decisive approach was evident in his response to the power crisis in Siquijor, where residents endured prolonged blackouts before swift government intervention was initiated under his leadership.
“I’ve always approached ‘yung mga problemang ganito, mayroon lang ako laging in my head na sinasabi, ang una mong reaksyon: Fix the problem, not the blame,” President Marcos said in the third part of the BBM Podcast Episode 2 aired on Friday.
“Kasi nga sabi, ‘sinong dapat mananagot diyan? sinong ganyan?’ O sige, that will – pero ayusin muna natin ‘yung problema,” the President noted.
President Marcos visited Siquijor Island province on June 11 to personally oversee measures aimed at addressing the power blackouts and achieving concrete results.
A day after the visit, two generator sets arrived from the Palawan Electric Cooperative (PALECO) to augment the power supply.
In compliance with the directive of President Marcos, by June 14, the National Electrification Administration (NEA) successfully restored stable electricity in Siquijor, ending several days of rotating brownouts that affected thousands of families, businesses, and schools.
The President also gave authorities six months to permanently resolve the power supply issue, which included a review of the contract with the private power generation company, Siquijor Island Power Corporation (SIPCOR).
“The way we fixed the problem, we brought two generators from Palawan. They are now in Siquijor. They’re already functioning, maayos na. We even have to provide the fuel. In-advance pa ng gobyerno ‘yung fuel dahil hindi naman kami dapat ang gagastos niyan eh,” President Marcos said.
“Ang mahalaga rito, hindi mo pinaparusahan ‘yung tao. So kahit na kung sino ang nagkamali, hindi ‘yan ang priority natin. Ang priority natin eh makapag-deliver ng kuryente sa bawat bahay. And that’s what we did,” the President stressed.
The President said the review of SIPCOR’s compliance with the terms of the contract is underway.
“Nire-review na namin. Alam mo like any contract, kung non-compliant ka, that breaks the contract,” said President Marcos. | PND
