Provincial Board (PB) Member Abeleon Damelerio on Friday took a swipe at Board Member Dioniso Victor Balite, saying the latter should focus on solving the power crisis instead of on criticizing the administration.

In his privilege speech, Damalerio claimed that Balite who criticized Capitol officials for their handling of Bohol’s power situation has not even been attending meetings of the BEDAG (Bohol Energy Development Advisory Group).

Damalerio, a staunch supporter of Gov. Edgar Chatto, defended Capitol’s efforts to address the province’s power needs prior to the current widespread electricity shortage which paralyzed major industries and commerce.

He higlighted the inception of  the BEDAG several months after Typhoon Yolanda crippled Bohol’s main power source in Leyte in 2013.

The BEDAG was created to come up with solutions to Bohol’s lack of inland power sources, he said.

Damalerio directed his speech at Balite who criticized the administration for the power outages as part of his allegation that Capitol officials only moved to address the power situation during the crisis.

The legislator said that he was not questioning Balite’s right to air his statements, but noted that solving the power crisis should be a priority over making criticisms.

For his part, Balite said in his privilege speech that the Cantakoy Hydropower Plant project should be the primary solution to address Bohol’s power supply problem.

He also questioned the administration’s move to focus on drawing energy from Cebu and channeling it to Bohol through a newly established bypass power line in Leyte.

According to Balite, the government should have already moved to solve the power issue immediately after the 7.2-magnitude tremor shook Bohol in October, 2013.

He lamented that this has not been carried out even amid various calls for the government to provide solutions to Bohol’s power sourcing setup.

Bohol has been grappling with province-wide outages since the 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck Leyte on July 6 damaging Bohol’s primary power source in the Eastern Visayas province.

Officials have been moving to direct power from Cebu through a bypass line in Ormoc City through the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines and tap two power barges for additional electricity in the province while repairs of power plants in Leyte are ongoing.

As of yesterday, 6 MW from the grid have been allocated for Bohol, adding to power currently being produced by the Bohol Diesel Power Plant and three hydropower plants. (Rey Tutas)