Samal Island Mayor Demands Answer from Nordeco on Submarine Cable

IGACOS MAYOR DEMANDS ANSWERS FROM NORDECO OVER MISSING SUBMARINE CABLE

Reyes challenges electric cooperative to explain where undersea power link is after utility claimed ‘politics’ at play

ISLAND GARDEN CITY OF SAMAL, Davao del Norte — Mayor Lemuel “Toto” Reyes has demanded that the Northern Davao Electric Cooperative (Nordeco) disclose the status of its long-delayed submarine cable project, challenging the utility to explain where the critical infrastructure is after officials allegedly claimed the issue was being politicized.

“Tubaga ninyo, Nordz, asa ang submarine cable bago mo moingon nga namolitika ko,” Reyes said in a Facebook post, directly addressing the electric cooperative and dismissing accusations that he was playing politics over the issue.

The submarine cable, which is designed to connect Samal Island to the Mindanao mainland grid, has been the subject of years of delays despite Nordeco securing a P1 billion loan to fund the project. The island, home to more than 119,000 residents as of 2024, has suffered from frequent power outages and unreliable electricity service for years.

P1 Billion Loan, No Tangible Progress

Consumer advocacy groups have raised alarms over the project’s status, pointing to leaked documents that suggest Nordeco may have entered into a costly lease agreement with a private firm despite the absence of a functioning submarine cable.

The Davao Consumer Movement, a watchdog group, said it obtained screenshots of an alleged operating lease agreement between Nordeco and Mikro-Tech Capital Corp. covering an overhead 69kV sub-transmission line, a 69kV submarine cable, and a 20MVA substation in Samal.

According to the document, which the group said appears to be signed by acting General Manager Elvera Alngog and Nordeco Board Vice Chairperson Dr. Alejandro C. Rodriguez, the cooperative committed to pay the firm approximately P150 million from 2023 to 2027 and P175 million from 2028 to 2032.

“While we cannot yet verify the authenticity of this document, its contents are alarming,” the Davao Consumer Movement said in a statement. “Nordeco has never disclosed any information about this project to the public. Given its scale and impact on residents and businesses in Samal, transparency should have been non-negotiable”.

The group added that by 2025, Nordeco may have already released around P450 million “without delivering tangible progress”.

Years of Power Crisis on Samal

Samal Island’s power woes date back nearly a decade, when a ship’s anchor previously cut an older submarine cable, forcing the island to rely on costly diesel generators. Nordeco had repeatedly promised to replace the underwater cable, but delays persisted.

In 2021, then-Nordeco General Manager Mario Angelo Sotto vowed that the submarine cable project would be operational within the first half of 2022, stating that materials imported from Europe were “almost 100% complete”. That deadline passed without the project being completed.

The power crisis escalated to the point that the Samal government declared a state of calamity in 2023, diverting public funds to emergency generator sets just to stabilize basic services.

Davao Light Takes Over

The franchise landscape shifted dramatically in April 2025, when Republic Act No. 12144 took effect, expanding the franchise area of Davao Light and Power Company, an AboitizPower subsidiary, to include Samal Island and other areas in Davao del Norte and Davao de Oro.

The Supreme Court affirmed the law’s constitutionality in January 2026, and a Regional Trial Court in Panabo issued a writ of possession authorizing Davao Light to take over all electric distribution assets in Samal.

Davao Light has since begun laying its own submarine cable across the Pakiputan Strait. The 1,015-meter, 69-kilovolt cable, produced in China, is expected to be energized by mid-2026.

The new cable can supply electricity to the island at up to five times the needed 15-megawatt capacity, Davao Light officials said.

“Davao Light is ready, poised, and equipped to serve the people, communities, and businesses of the Island Garden City of Samal,” said Davao Light president and COO Enriczar Tia.

Accountability Questions Remain

Despite the transition to a new power distributor, questions persist about what happened to the funds Nordeco borrowed for its own submarine cable project.

The Davao Consumer Movement has called for a Senate Blue Ribbon Committee investigation into the Samal submarine cable project, a move earlier backed by the Provincial Government of Davao del Norte during a joint meeting of the Provincial Development Council and Provincial Peace and Order Council in September 2025.

The watchdog group has urged Nordeco to release a full and clear financial report on the P1 billion loan and all related expenses.

“Short statements or simple denials will not ease public concern,” the group said.

For residents who endured years of outages that damaged appliances and disrupted livelihoods, the issue is not just future stability but whether past losses will ever be acknowledged or remedied.

Reyes, who has also offered to help displaced Nordeco workers find employment with Davao Light, framed the takeover as a turning point for the island, even urging residents to “start buying appliances” again with confidence that reliable power will follow.

But his demand to Nordeco cuts to a deeper question: Where is the cable that consumers were told was coming—and who bears responsibility for its absence?

With the transition to Davao Light now underway, the call for transparency from Nordeco grows louder, even as the cooperative’s role in Samal’s power distribution comes to an end.