During a September 15 budget hearing at the House of Representatives, Energy Secretary Angelo T. Reyes warned of a looming power crisis in the country that will strike fiercely in 2010. The energy chief stated that disruptions in power supply would be so significant that they could even disrupt the national and local elections next year. While some assert that Reyes’ pronouncements are overdramatized conjectures to strengthen his department’s budgetary petition or even justifications for possible special emergency powers for the President, the fact is that there is evidence of an increasingly serious power crisis in the country that will have a major impact on the socio-political and socio-economic development of the country. For years, the Philippines Government has warned of an impending crisis in the power sector and since the construction of a power plant takes 3-5 years to complete, shortages and blackouts appear inevitable......