- MANILA: Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo declared an energy crisis Thursday in the southern Philippines, which has been hit by up to 12 hours of blackouts per day in recent weeks.
Arroyo said she is adopting the recommendations of Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes to declare a power crisis on the island of Mindanao and enable her government to take emergency measures.
The Department of Energy reported that the power situation on Mindanao had deteriorated because of reduced capacity of the island's hydroelectric power plants as a result of a dry spell.
Data from the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines showed that the power deficiency in Mindanao increased to 578 megawatts on Wednesday from about 350 megawatts a week ago.