MANILA, Philippines —The country’s power supply remained unstable marked by the thin reserves of the Luzon and the Visayas grids, and huge generation deficiencies of the Mindanao grid.

According to the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP), the Luzon grid has a gross reserve of 308 megawatts in the morning and which fell to about 100 Megawatts (MW) in the afternoon. Ideally, Luzon should have power reserves of at least 1,200 MW, to enable it to address any temporary shortages.

The Visayas grid has gross power reserves of 58 MW while the supply deficit of the Mindanao grid remained dismal at 679 MW.  Read the rest of the story.

Davao City (3 March) — Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) representative Raymond Mendoza filed a petition for a P75 cross-the-board wage increase in Region XI yesterday to the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB).

In a press conference, Mendoza bared that the petition is a non-negotiable matter as the TUCP already tolerated no wage increase in 2009.

The last wage hike was approved in May 2008 and TUCP did not push for a wage hike in the following year understanding the plight of employers affected by the financial crisis.

However, with the skyrocketing prices of basic goods and services and the expected increase in the charges of power and water, TUCP now pushes for an across-the-board P75 increase and the integration of the Cost of Living Allowance into the basic wage.

“Workers have not raised their living standards for decades while other sectors have accumulated more and more of the country’s incomes and wealth”, said Mendoza.  Read the rest of the story…

The power supply in the Luzon grid is again in a precarious state, contrary to claims of the Department of Energy (DOE) that power supply is more than enough to provide electricity to households up to June.  Read the whole story.

Meanwhile, the Manila Times reports on the Mindanao power crisis:

THE House Energy Committee on Monday has greenlighted the passage of a resolution calling for a special joint session that will grant President Gloria Arroyo additional powers, aiming to address the Mindanao power crisis.  Read the whole story.

Hello Mr. Troutman. I am Weslee, I hope you can still remember me. I’m one of those people whom the Phil Aid Society, thru you, is helping.  I just want to tell you personally my heartfelt gratitude with all the help that you are extending. You really are  God’s gift not only to me but to my family. You don’t know how much help you are actually doing. I promise to do everything that I can do to make my studies even better.

May God always bless you and your family. Thank you very much, Sir…

Below is a picture of me, Weslee, and Fr. Aris Maniago, who serves on our Board of Trustees.

MANILA: An offshore earthquake measuring 6. 0 on the Richer scale struck eastern Philippines early Thursday morning, the government-run quake monitoring institute reported.

There is no immediate report of casualties or damages.

The quake, tectonic in origin, occurred at 02:49 am local time (1849 GMT Wednesday) and its center was located in the sea, about 156 km east of Virac, Cataduanes province with a depth of 31 km, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said.  Read the rest of the story…

Victims of tropical cyclones “Ondoy” (Ketsana) and “Pepeng” (Parma) stand to benefit from a fresh grant of €7 million (about P490 million) in humanitarian assistance from the European Commission.

The National Disaster Coordinating Council said the grant, which the EC approved this week, is separate from the €2 million (P140 million) grant approved September 29 last year.

An article posted Friday evening on the NDCC website said this brings EC funding for Ondoy and Pepeng victims to €9 million (about P630 million).

“The extent of the suffering and damage caused by Ondoy and Pepeng had called for exceptional efforts and resilience by the national and local authorities, and by so many ordinary citizens who responded directly to help those affected by the floods and landslides. The European Commission, through its Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO), has been happy to add its support to these efforts,” EC Head of Delegation in Manila Ambassador Alistair MacDonald said.  Read the Rest of the Story

At least 11 people, including a one-year-old baby, were killed and several others were hurt when an armed group believed to be composed of members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and Abu Sayyaf bandits stormed a village in Maluso town in Basilan on Saturday morning, a police official said.

Chief Superintendent Bienvenido Latag, Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) police chief, said the attack happened at about 5:45 a.m. in Barangay (village) Tubigan, Maluso – a fourth class municipality in the southern Philippine island province.  Read the rest of the story.

Breaking with the tradition of offering commentary on election-related moral issues without endorsing candidates, two Philippine bishops have endorsed the candidacy of John Carlos de los Reyes of the Ang Kapatiran political party.

“You can’t separate faith from political life,” de los Reyes said in October. “As a Catholic, my role is to assert my principle and values to the society.”

“I am against abortion in all cases and the use of birth control pills and condoms even among married couples,” he added. Instead, de los Reyes has supported the use of natural family planning.  Read the whole story.

DAVAO CITY – (UPDATE 3) At least four soldiers, including a junior officer, were killed when communist rebels set off a landmine in Veruela, Agusan del Sur, the military said Thursday.

Major Randolph Cabangbang, spokesman of the military’s Eastern Mindanao Command based here, said three other government troopers and a 10-year old girl were wounded in the incident, which took place in Barangay (village) La Fortuna around 6 p.m., and the clash that ensued between soldiers and New People’s Army rebels…  Read the whole story.

The SWS said only 12 percent “expect it to get worse,” resulting in a Net Personal Optimism – or the difference of Optimists over Pessimists – score of +21.

The Personal Optimism level compares to the +24 in September 2009, and a recovery from levels ranging from +17 to -6 in March 2008
to June 2009…  Read the whole story…