DEPUTY Majority Leader and Iloilo 1st District Rep. Janette Garin on Friday said residents in the province are starting to get sick due to extreme heat caused by lack of electricity because of continuous power outage in Western Visayas.

“Apektado rin naman [ng brownout] ang buong Pilipinas dahil lahat tayo nagko-contribute sa ekonomiya. Hindi lang ‘yan ang dami na rin pong nagkakasakit kasi sobrang mainit,” Garin said in an interview with Punto Asintado on Friday.

The Iloilo lawmaker further stressed that the continuous power outage affects economy and livelihood of fishermen and output-based work force.

“Ang problema ‘yung iba hindi nakakapagnegosyo ay nawawalan ng kita. ‘Yung iba na output-based ang kanilang kita apektado. ‘Yung mga mangingisda naman ‘yung kanilang isda ay ibebenta na lang ng murang mura dahil wala kang ice [na paglalagyan ng isda],” Garin said, adding that generation sets in hospitals were not enough to provide full electricity needs.

Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas cited data from Local Economic Development and Investment Promotion Office (LEDIPO), saying that Iloilo City was losing P400 million to P500 million a day due to the power interruptions, totaling to P1.5 billion on the third day of blackout.

Garin mentioned that power providers vowed to resolve the problem on Friday, however, Garin, who is currently in Iloilo, said that electricity has yet to return on Friday noon. Power outage began on January 2, she said.

During the congressional probe on widespread power outage, the House Deputy Majority Leader vowed that those responsible for the blackout will be held accountable.

“Dapat talaga imbestigahan kung bakit ito nangyayari at ‘yung imbestigasyon na ‘yun ay hindi lamang mahinto sa pagtatanong. Dapat malaman natin kung bakit nagkaganito. Sino ba ‘yung dapat managot,” the lawmaker said.

“Adding insult to injury is the constant finger pointing between NGCP (National Grid Corporation of the Philippines) and the power generators. Ang mahal mahal na nga ng kuryente, hindi mo naman maramdaman yung quality of service,” Garin added.