Energy resiliency crucial in rebuilding Marawi

MANILA – The Department of Energy (DOE) on Tuesday conducted public consultations in Cagayan de Oro City on energy resiliency policy for Northern Mindanao, a region vulnerable to natural and human-induced disasters, such as the siege of Marawi City.

“The policy will help guide the massive restoration and rehabilitation efforts of energy facilities in Marawi City, which must immediately commence as soon as the cessation of fighting in the city torn by the 5-month long military operation in the area,” said DOE Secretary Alfonso Cusi

The energy chief also indicated that the department is fast-tracking the issuance and implementation of the energy resiliency policy as this would serve as a guide especially in rebuilding Marawi City.

The DOE chose Cagayan de Oro City as venue for the third-leg of the consultations since the city serves as the gateway to Northern Mindanao and the people living in nearby areas are aware of the adverse effects of typhoons, floods and armed conflicts to their energy sources.

The energy resiliency policy, dubbed as the “Adoption of Resiliency Planning and Program in the Energy Industry to Mitigate Adverse Effects Brought About by Disasters,” is anchored on President Duterte’s directive to heighten disaster resilience.

Among others, the proposed policy seeks to strengthen the existing energy infrastructure and systems; institutionalize the “build back better” principle; improve existing disaster resilience operations; and develop resiliency practices, systems and standards.

“With this policy, we are building with the industry players a structure on how to plan and address human-induced disasters that compromise existing power facilities,” Cusi said.

Other issues discussed included the improvement of information technology infrastructure, energy stakeholders’ involvement, sectoral guidelines, and determining the policy’s contribution to the overall strategy of the country towards disaster resilience, risk reduction and response.

The Mindanao-leg consultation also reflected some of the views and suggestions from the Luzon and Visayas consultations, including the resiliency compliance plan and its timelines, the task force, regulatory support and monitoring, definition of terms, roles and responsibilities, costs and budgetary concerns, plans and roadmaps, among others.

In addition to the public consultations conducted, the DOE welcomes additional comments or recommendations of all concerned citizens on the proposed policy. For this purpose, the public may send their insights until Friday, 20 October 2017  through email: [email protected]. An electronic copy of the policy is downloadable at the DOE official website: www.doe.gov.ph. (PR/PNA)