PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is set to inaugurate the Cebu-Negros-Panay Backbone Project Stage 3 (CNP3) on April 8, Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas said on Friday.

During the Philippine Electric Power Industry Forum 2024 at the Iloilo Convention Center, Treñas also welcomed this development, which is expected to improve the power situation on Panay Island.

Department of Energy (DoE) Undersecretary Rowena Cristina Guevara also confirmed this to reporters on the sidelines of the event, adding that President Marcos will be leading the inauguration in Bacolod next week.

Guevara said National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) completed the 230-kilovolt CNP3 on March 27, four days ahead of the March 31 deadline.

She noted that with the completion of the CNP3, the entire backbone project in Visayas is now running at full capacity.

"The importance of the completion of the CNP backbone, that's 230 kV, is that there are now two possible routes to go to the needed islands. Before, there was only one connection. The capacity used to be 380 (MW) and 400 megawatts now," she added.

Meanwhile, Treñas said the CNP3 is an "immediate need" of this city and the rest of the Panay Island to avoid the recent major blackouts that occurred from January 2 to 5, with another blackout that followed after two months.

The same power outages happened in April last year.

The mayor said businesses were losing up to P500 million daily due to the blackout during the start of 2024.

During the ceremonial energization of the Mindanao-Visayas Interconnection Project in January this year, President Marcos directed the NGCP to finish the CNP3 to avoid the same power woes.

"We cannot afford to have another round of this costly interruption not only in Panay Island but anywhere in the country. So, let's move forward with the lessons that we have gained from this blackout and [make] sure this massive inconvenience and loss for our people should not occur again," Marcos said.

"The realization of our 'One Nation, One Grid' aspiration is definitely a crucial turning point for this country in ensuring reliable power at all times," the Chief Executive added.