THE DAVAO Consumer Movement welcomes the recent release of the focus group discussion study of ILAW that highlights the current plight of the people of the Island Garden of Samal.
Here are some of the key findings of the study:
- The study revealed that 74.29 percent of MSME respondents report daily revenue losses between P10,000 and P30,000, whereas larger businesses face approximately P100,000 in losses each day.
- The study highlighted that power outages compel businesses to halt or delay their operations, forcing them to adopt cost-reduction strategies such as workforce downsizing, lowering inventory levels, or reducing business hours.
- Findings from the research indicate that entrepreneurs on Samal Island are experiencing financial setbacks ranging from P10,000 to P100,000 per day.
Mayor Al David Uy disclosed that the city has been incurring an annual loss of P50 million in the tourism industry due to persistent power issues.
These findings reiterate and emphasize the difficulty of Samal Island businesses to operate properly. Unreliable power service has limited their growth in terms of opportunities and profits.
Based on our own discussions with local businesses on the island, businesses reported broken appliances due to intermittent brownouts and limiting their operations.
However, this is not only limited to the businesses but also to online workers on the island who have expressed disappointment over the unreliability of power.
But this is not only the reality of those living on Samal Island. It is also the same for those living in the area served by the Northern Davao Electric Cooperative (Nordeco). For decades, the electric cooperative has not lived up to its promise to provide reliable and affordable electricity. What they are giving instead is unreliable service and expensive electricity.
Thus, the solution to this is a change in the power provider of the people of Davao del Norte and Davao de Oro, which Senate Bill 2888 (House Bill 11072) seeks to address.
As the deadline of the bill nears, we call on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., to sign the bill into law.
Once signed into law, this will have a long-term positive impact on the people of Davao del Norte and Davao de Oro. In the case of Samal, it will finally be able to reach its potential of becoming a major tourism powerhouse in Mindanao.
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Ryan Amper
Convenor
Davao Consumer Movement
0905-5634083
