12-Hour Power Outages Set in Iloilo This Weekend

By Rjay Zuriaga Castor

The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) has scheduled two 12-hour power interruptions in Iloilo Province and Iloilo City this weekend.

On Saturday, May 24, electricity will be out from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. in areas served by Iloilo Electric Cooperative I (ILECO I).

According to ILECO I, the outage will affect the entire municipalities of Alimodian, Guimbal, Igbaras, Leon, Miagao, Oton, San Joaquin, San Miguel, Tigbauan and Tubungan.

Portions of Maasin and several barangays and subdivisions in Pavia will also experience service disruption.

In Sta. Barbara, interruptions will occur in Barangays Jibao-an and Balabag, particularly the DECA Homes area.

NGCP said the outage is due to the continuation of wood pole replacement work along the Sta. Barbara–Miagao–San Joaquin 69kV transmission line and preventive meter maintenance.

A separate 12-hour outage is set for Sunday, May 25, from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Iloilo City.

Affected areas include those served by MORE Power’s Mandurriao, Jaro and Megaworld substations.

The Sunday interruption is part of ongoing upgrades at NGCP’s Iloilo Substation.

NGCP said the upgrades are preventive and aim to improve system reliability and avoid widespread disruptions.

MORE Power president Roel Castro said the upgrades were originally planned before the election period but were postponed due to a moratorium.

“In fairness to NGCP, it is doing everything to help us,” Castro said.

“We have to realize that before we came in, NGCP did nothing in this part,” he added.

Castro said the previous power distributor in Iloilo City was not a client of NGCP.

“For the last six years, we’ve been telling them about our growth, and they have been very supportive,” he said.

He noted that part of the upgrades, including a 3×100 MVA facility, is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2025.

MORE Power will also conduct line clearing and maintenance during the outage to align with NGCP’s work.

To minimize the impact, Castro said they will transfer some loads to other substations.