Luzon, Visayas suffer rotational blackouts

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May 16, 2026 | 12:00am

As red alert hoisted on power grids for 3 days in a row

MANILA, Philippines — For the third consecutive day, power grids in Luzon and the Visayas were again placed on red alert yesterday, plunging consumers into rotational blackouts lasting two to three hours.

The alert status in Luzon was initially raised from 3 to 10 p.m. before the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) adjusted it from 2 to 11 p.m.

In the Visayas, the NGCP adjusted the advisory to 3 to 10 p.m. from 5 to 9 p.m. as power supply remained strained and electricity demand stayed high.

Both regions were also placed under yellow alert, affecting Luzon from 1 to 2 p.m. and from 11 p.m. to midnight, and the Visayas from 2 to 3 p.m. and from 10 to 11 p.m.

A yellow alert is raised when power supply is about to become insufficient, while a red alert is hoisted when supply can no longer meet consumers’ demand.

Over 5,700 megawatts of capacity were unavailable, with at least 56 power plants on a forced outage and 25 others operating at a reduced output, according to NGCP data.

In the Meralco franchise area, consumers in parts of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Quezon and Rizal as well as Metro Manila experienced power interruptions.

Rotational blackouts were reported in parts of Abra, Albay, Batangas, Cagayan, Camarines Sur, La Union, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Pangasinan and Zambales.

Similar outages were reported in the Visayas including parts of Aklan, Antique, Biliran, Bohol, Capiz, Guimaras, Iloilo, Negros Island, Leyte and Samar as well as Metro Cebu.

Amid continued power disturbances, the Department of Energy mobilized a grid reliability task force to determine the root cause of the outages.

Energy Secretary Sharon Garin criticized the NGCP for failing to provide timely reports on incidents involving transmission lines.

Garin advised the public to use electricity responsibly, especially during peak hours, to help ease pressure on the grid.

The Philippine Energy Research & Policy Institute (PERPI) underscored the urgent need for an integrated power plan to balance renewable energy integration with essential baseload capacity.

“As we scale up renewables, we need to recalibrate our power systems to ensure a reliable baseload supply,” PERPI executive board member Jay Layug told journalists yesterday. — EJ Macababbad