During the hearing of the Senate Committee on Energy joint with Trade, Commerce and Entrepreneurship on July 12, 2023, Jubahib pointed out that parts of the province — particularly the first district and the Island Garden City of Samal (IGACOS) — continue to experience brownouts despite Northern Davao Electric Cooperative's (NORDECO) claims that the power in the area is now stable. The first district of Davao del Norte includes Tagum City, and the municipalities of Asuncion, Kapalong, New Corella, San Isidro and Talaingod.
The governor said he has received complaints from businesses in the province about their concerns of the erratic and sudden brownouts in the province. In the mainland, the brownouts would be almost three hours while in IGACOS, the brownouts can be as long as five hours.
"Ang pinakamalaking problema ko po bilang governor, 'pag huminto po itong mga negosyante na magnegosyo sa probinsya ng Davao del norte, ito po ay hindi na maging power crisis, kung hindi maging economic crisis po ang dulot ng NORDECO (My biggest problem right now as the governor of Davao del Norte is the problems caused by NORDECO is no longer simply a power crisis but could become an economic crisis)," Jubahib said.
He said once investors stop investing in the province and businesses stop operating, many people in province will lose their jobs.
"Paano na po ang tao? Saan po sila mag trabaho kung mag-alisan na ang mga negosyante doon sa district ng Davao del Norte at sa IGACOS (What will happen to our people here? Where will they go if businesses and investors start leaving the province?)" Jubahib said.
The governor pointed out that the province and local government units are contributing millions per year to support the electrification of NORDECO. In the province's case, they are shelling out P20 million to P30 million per year.
"Bakit hindi matapos-tapos problema namin sa kuryente (This makes us wonder why we continue to experience power problems in the province)," Jubahib said.
Over the past couple of years, Davao del Norte has been experiencing power problems ranging from power supply issues to delivery of basic services.
In recent months, various groups in the province have called on government leaders to take action against NORDECO. This is what prompted the Senate to conduct an inquiry.
Senator Christopher "Bong" Go, who experienced a sudden brownout during the middle of his speech in a recent visit to Davao del Norte, said he will keep a close eye on NORDECO in resolving the power issues in the province.
"Ang importante po rito, susubaybayan natin buwan buwan ano na pong update ng kanilang pinangako sa taong bayan (What is important now is they keep up updated of their promise to the people the serve)," Go said. (PR)
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