By JUNE S. BLANCO

THE need to develop local power sources surfaced anew with the outage Bohol experienced at the height of Tropical Storm Basyang that put most Visayas provinces under public storm signal No. 2. But Rep. Erico Aristotle Aumentado (Bohol, 2ndDistrict) assured his constituents – and the Boholanos in general that he is “doing his homework”. Aumentado said the service contract between the private power proponents and the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) that manages the Bayongan Dam as part of the Bohol Irrigation Project (BHIP) Phase 2 is now ready. While NIA Administrator Claro Maranan is up and ready, the proponent, however, is still finalizing agreements on a joint venture with a private developer.

For its part, the Department of Energy (DOE) said as far as it is concerned, all requirements for the development of the Bayongan Dam into a new power source have already been complied. The new renewable power source targets three megawatts. Developing more would already spell submerging populated areas around Bayongan. The solon stressed that he always takes into consideration the welfare of residents. He said he does not want them to assume risks in projects like this. Like his father and namesake Rep. Erico Boyles Aumentado, the son says he is also forward-looking – taking steps this early to boost the power generation of Bohol to prevent province-wide outages like what happened when the geothermal power source in Tongonan, Leyte failed due to damage wrought by super typhoon Yolanda, and lately, Basyang.