Elf Tango, you say?

(Written by Scott Denoga / News Reporter of Disney XD News)

BACONG, NEGROS ORIENTAL -- Various parts of southern Negros Oriental encountered two (2) blackouts early this morning and afternoon on Friday, coinciding with the Labor Day weekend on May 1st, 2026 (Dumaguete local time). The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), a leading private transmission service company, unexpectedly interrupts the Amlan-Siaton 69 kilovolt (kV) transmission line at 'Negros Oriental Electric Cooperative 2' (NORECO II) from 1am onwards and at 2:38pm that day. Affected areas are from Tampi wharf to the entire areas of San Jose, Sibulan, Dumaguete City, Valencia, Bacong, Dauin, Zamboanguita, and Siaton.

The transmission line (TL) connecting Bagacay, Dauin and Siaton was temporarily de-energized for a half-day due to a large mango tree that fell onto Structural 232E of NGCP. The wooden pole at Str. 232E was severed below the lower crossarm. The Amlan-Bagacay TL section of NGCP was re-energized approximately two (2) and a half hours later on Friday at 3:15am onwards. The fallen mango tree was located outside the TL row in 'Barangay Lutao, Bacong, Negros Oriental'.

Channel 8 News and Disney XD News made attempts to contact the Consumer Welfare Desk at NORECO II, but the regional utility company did not reply to our calls or texts due to high demand. Before this, NORECO II briefly shut down its Sibulan, Pulantubig, and Bagacay substations so that NGCP could completely restore their electrical power to the Bagacay-Siaton TL section. NGCP is currently working with NORECO II to resolve the issue and clear its vegetation. Power was restored at 3:23am and again 20 minutes later before 3pm.

The blackouts disrupted the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)'s job fair and several community events in southern NegOr, prompting NGCP and NORECO II to coordinate emergency repairs, restore power to affected substations and clear vegetation.

These immediate steps carried out between late-nights and in the afternoon, helped to prevent further outages and ensured that key events could proceed as planned despite the initial threat of total cancellation. Businesses and local residents in the affected cities and municipalities should soon experience a more reliable power supply.

SCREENGRAB and LOGOS COURTESY for REPRESENTATION: Google Images and Maps

SOURCES: *https://www.facebook.com/100080469709889/posts/1014272861265028 *https://www.facebook.com/100064186045325/posts/1363849779097877 and *https://www.facebook.com/100064186045325/posts/1363850935764428

DUMAGUETE, NEGROS ORIENTAL -- Over the years before the global Chinese pandemic that changed everything from early 2018, right up to now, we've seen a string of blackouts in Negros Oriental that were deliberately brought back on by its poles. The 'Wood Pole Replacement Programme' (WPRP) is a massive, long-term infrastructure project that aims to swap out those rotten wood utility poles for fire-resistant steel or concrete. Although the said programme on high-voltage transmission lines (TL) is being led by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP). Negros Oriental Electric Cooperative 2 (NORECO II), regional power utility giant plays a vital role in ensuring the safety to implement in their local communities.

The main goal is to make Negros Oriental a lot more resilient to disasters and emergencies. Wooden poles are still in use, have been hanging in there for decades, prone to termites to rot, especially typhoons like Basyang that previously knocked them down in the past. By replacing them with steel or concrete, power supplies are distributed with care from the experts of electricians, so if something does go wrong, it doesn't put local residents at risk of being injured, nor having instant death below the live wire.

Summer is almost near its total frustration in the southern Negros Island Region (NIR) as NGCP, together with NORECO II held a scheduled power service interruption, per latest advisory before Valloween (Friday the 13th and Valentine's Day) on Wednesday (February 11th, 2026 -- Dumaguete local time).

Third district Senior Manager of NGCP-Negros 'Lope L. Cañete', put out an advisory letter stating that the NGCP is going to de-energize the Amlan-Siaton 69 kilovolt transmission line (TL) to keep working on the WPRP. They're going to clear out some overgrown vegetation and make other fix-up works along this particular set of electrical lines. Areas affected from 'Tampi Wharf' to the entire area of San Jose, Sibulan, Dumaguete City, Valencia, Bacong, Dauin, Zamboanguita and Siaton. Four (4) local substations, including here at Channel 8 home studios in Barangay Pulantubig, will also be affected as we take the worst heat of its summer solstice.

The initial blackout is set to kick in Sunday morning (March 1st, 2026) at 6am, and wind it up at 6pm or possibly a bit sooner than scheduled, but it's all dependent on how the work's going and whether or not any last-minute issues come up for parallel maintenance. Regional power utility giant 'NORECO II' is urging all Negrosanons in the areas affected by charging the necessary devices, purchasing backup generator brands like 'EcoFlow' and 'Ingco', installing your portable satellite internet, such as Elon Reeve Musk's Starlink or pocket WiFi like DITO Telecommunity, and unplugging sensitive pieces of electronics in the event of a potential power surge when electrical service is restored in due time.

SOURCES: *https://www.facebook.com/61559401815783/posts/122224253804313393 and *https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1026793

(Written by Kimi Sparkle & Scott Denoga / News Reporters of OneNETnews & Disney XD News)

DUMAGUETE, NEGROS ORIENTAL -- People across the southern Negros Island Region (NIR) are expected to witness a scheduled blackout on Sunday morning (December 7th, 2025 -- Dumaguete local time). The electric transmission service provider 'National Grid Corporation of the Philippines' (NGCP), in coordination with Negros Oriental Electric Cooperative 2 (NORECO II), also referred to as the power outage capital in the said area, temporarily shuts down the transmission lines to undertake clearing of vegetation and other maintenance-related works. This recent announcement was made by NGCP through advisories made on Thursday (November 27th); the first de-energization will involve the 69 kilovolt (kV) transmission line crossing between structure #85 and #86, thus requiring the successive offline status of two (2) local substations.

The outage will cause the disruption of various feeders that serve these municipalities and barangays. Power to residential areas, commercial centers and facilities along the national highway and barangays located within the 10 megavolt-amperes (MVA) Sibulan substation feeders 1S and 2S will be impacted in Sibulan. In addition, Pulantubig Substation 1 (10 MVA) will be impacted, and Feeder 1 will affect some portions of Pulantubig along the national highway, Bolocboloc, and Dumaguete-Sibulan airport area in Dumaguete & Sibulan, as well together in Bais & Valencia. Feeder 4 will serve the Rovira road as a whole, The Henry Hotels and Resorts, and other coastal places in Dumaguete alone. Whereas Pulantubig Substation 2 (20 MVA), Feeder 3 will disrupt service to parts of the national highway which serve CityMall Dumaguete, Piapi High School and Silliman University Medical Center; Feeder 6 will impact other Pulantubig areas and Sibulan. Shutting off two (2) local substations will be 3 hours between 6am and 9am.

The long outage will affect feeders in Bagacay, serving large commercial destinations like Robinsons Place Dumaguete, Teletech and Citi Hardware, plus portions of the Larena drive and Capt. A. Cornelia Road including Feeder 5, and residential communities such as Ecoville. Dauin feeders will cut off services to Poblacion and Maayongtubig, as well as other barangays. Other communities that will be impacted by Siaton feeders will include Inalad, Napacao, and Lutoban. The mentioned areas include Valencia, Bacong, Dauin, Zamboanguita and Siaton. Additional repair will involve NGCP de-energizing Pulantubig-Siaton 69kV transmission line so that its wood-poles may be replaced and any transmission-line faults corrected on three (3) local substations in Bagacay, Dauin and Siaton will have the window to repair, and the interruption will take at least half a day but will of course vary should the work finish earlier, or somewhat delays occur.

In those parts of Dumaguete and mostly among them, Negrosanons are encouraged to fully recharge their devices, as well as to prepare alternative sources of light, particularly the provision of personal generator sets, with the anticipated scheduled power outage. You can also have a weekend getaway however, when it is needed. The electric provider and utility crew of NGCP and NORECO II hope to express their apologies for the inconvenience, but the only power outage capital, here in Negros Oriental, will experience power maintenance this upcoming late weekend.

FILE SCREENGRAB & LOGOS COURTESY for REPRESENTATION: Google Maps and Images

SOURCE: *https://www.facebook.com/61559401815783/posts/122213541704313393 and *https://www.facebook.com/61559401815783/posts/122213546318313393

(2nd & FINAL UPDATE!!!) DUMAGUETE, NEGROS ORIENTAL -- Grid operator 'National Grid Corporation of the Philippines' (NGCP) and regional electric utility company 'Negros Oriental Electric Cooperative 2' (NORECO II) announcing the scheduled power interruption across Negros Oriental cited on Friday (June 20th, 2025 -- Dumaguete local time).

NGCP will de-energize its Amlan-Siation 69kV (kilovolt) transmission line on Sunday morning (June 29th) from 6am to 6pm. The following affected areas are from Tampi Wharf to the entire area of San Jose, Sibulan, Dumaguete, Valencia, Bacong, Dauin, Zamboanguita and Siaton. Four (4) local substations will be affected there during the scheduled blackout.

Activities during the scheduled blackout by installing bayonet and left-up OHGW & steel cross-arm at structures #39 to #41. Followed by wood pole replacement at structure #58-HT. Electrician officials need corrections of the conductor loop jumper and alignment of the Direct Scheduled Work-order (DSW) contact finger at structures #140-3D and 141HT. And by clearing or trimming works of big mango trees located in the Banilad area along the Amlan-Dauin 69kV transmission line section.

On Tuesday (June 17th), the local government unit (LGU) of Dauin urgently request to postpone next week's scheduled blackout, originally by June 29th due to an upcoming this year's 'Dive Dauin Festival' (formerly known as 'Dive7') from June 25th to 29th, 2025. Today, Lope L. Cañete approved the decision with NORECO II's general manager 'Atty. Fe Marie Dicen Tagle' and is expected to reschedule coming August 10th of this year.

It is recommended that residents and businesses in the affected regions should prepare in advance to take into account the planned outage of power by charging electronic devices such as power banks and storing perishable food, and preparing alternative activities during the blackout. Negrosanons should remain flexible and patient during this necessary infrastructure electrical maintenance work.

SCREENGRAB and LOGOS COURTESY: Google Maps and Images

SOURCE: *https://x.com/NORECOTWO/status/1936982774910796271 *https://x.com/NORECOTWO/status/1937054510746394675 and *https://x.com/NORECOTWO/status/1938416579781488857

-- OneNETnews Online Publication Team

(Written by Scott Denoga / News Intern of Disney XD News)

DUMAGUETE, NEGROS ORIENTAL -- After two (2) consecutive blackout delays from a month ago in March, grid operator 'National Grid Corporation of the Philippines' (NGCP) and regional electric company 'Negros Oriental Electric Cooperative 2' (NORECO II) finally passed the on-time schedule Sunday early evening (April 6th, 2025 at 5:38pm -- Dumaguete local time). The technical services department (TSD) implemented critical infrastructure upgrades aimed at improving service delivery in the Dauin area as part of its parallel maintenance activity in Negros Oriental.

Previously, the affected areas from 'Calo, San Jose' to the entire area of Sibulan, Dumaguete City, Valencia, Bacong, Dauin, Zamboanguita and Siaton are now fully re-energized. Dauin substation has recently upgrading the power transformer uprated from 4.2 to 10 megavolt-amperes (MVA), and the switch gear upgraded for improved efficiency and stability.

Here in Dumaguete City, a potential fire incident in selected areas around Barangay Motong, including one local gas station '2Bil' on the highway of 'Larena Drive'. We did not see any of the fires from last Sunday night or Monday early morning. NORECO II already patching to fix electrical problems over the late-weekend and the afternoon summer heat in Negros Oriental as part of the public service at OneNETnews. It is unclear if there will be another scheduled power interruption after the Holy Week holiday and ahead of national & local elections at the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) for NORECO II within this month of April and May of this year.

The completed critical infrastructure upgrades and maintenance work ensures Negros Oriental residents will receive dependable electrical services throughout the upcoming Holy Week and national elections period for COMELEC.

FILE PHOTO COURTESY for REPRESENTATION: Robert Simms via Google Maps BACKGROUND PROVIDED BY: Tegna

SOURCE: *https://www.facebook.com/61559401815783/posts/122175393794313393 and *https://www.facebook.com/61559401815783/posts/122174585348313393