Manila: The House of Representatives on Tuesday formally opened a congressional inquiry into the massive May 13 power outages that affected millions of consumers across Luzon and the Visayas. The inquiry is being conducted jointly by the House Committee on Energy and the House Committee on Legislative Franchises, focusing on the cascading tripping of the Tayabas-Ilijan and Dasmari±as-Ilijan 500-kilovolt transmission lines that triggered several red and yellow alerts across the Luzon and Visayas grids.
According to Philippines News Agency, the hearing stemmed from House Resolution 1024, authored by Speaker Faustino 'Bojie' Dy III and Senior Deputy Speaker Ferdinand "Dinand" Hernandez, seeking an investigation into the widespread grid disruptions. Hernandez emphasized in his opening statement that the resolution is a call to action, aiming to work collaboratively to strengthen energy infrastructure and ensure a reliable power supply for every Filipino.
Hernandez stated that the inquiry is not merely about identifying technical failures but also about ensuring accountability and implementing long-term safeguards to prevent another major grid collapse. He emphasized that the inquiry should remain constructive, solution-oriented, and responsive to public concerns, with the mandate to determine failures, reasons, and preventive measures.
The inquiry revealed that more than 3.9 million consumers across Metro Manila, Batangas, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal were affected by Manual Load Dropping, leading to significant economic consequences. Hernandez highlighted the need for stronger coordination among the Department of Energy, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines, and industry stakeholders to improve response time and crisis management during power disruptions.
Hernandez stressed that the public demands accountability from the government when such failures occur and urged moving beyond reactive responses towards a proactive and resilient energy system. He called for real-time visibility and timely coordination between the DOE and the grid operator to ensure faster response and better crisis management.
The House inquiry will focus on technical accountability and grid resilience, coordination and communication protocols, and supply security and ancillary services. Hernandez noted that protecting the stability of the power system requires close coordination among regulators, system operators, and power producers, emphasizing the interconnected nature of these stakeholders in maintaining grid stability.
