I also found the following report  online:

Mindanao hydroelectric power plants reduce capacity to 50%
By Lino De La Cruz (The Philippine Star) Updated February 14, 2010 12:00 AM
ILIGAN CITY , Philippines  – Hydroelectric power plants in Mindanao have been forced to reduce their capacity to 50 percent since Feb. 3 due to the low water inflow into Lake Lanao and Pulangi River because of the onset of El Niño, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) said.
Eugene Bicar, NGCP Mindanao system operations head, said power load shedding throughout Mindanao will be enforced the whole month of February as NGCP projects that power supply will remain below comfortable levels.
This is due to the unavailability of the Agus 5, Mindanao coal-fired power plant Unit 2, the Iligan diesel-powered plant, and the Western Mindanao power plant in Zamboanga City, which has reduced its output from 90 to 80 megawatts, Bicar said.

To address the power shortage in the short term, Bicar said the preventive maintenance of the Agus 5 hydroelectric plant’s Units 1 and 2 must be fast-tracked and the repair of Kibawe 138 KVA lines must be completed as soon as possible.

He said the commissioning of the Maramag-Bunawan 230 KVA backbone project would also help in strengthening the network interconnection of the Mindanao grid.
At the same time, Bicar urged the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. to resume the operation of the Iligan diesel-powered plant and to contract additional power generation from embedded generations like the diesel plant in northern Mindanao.

Two-hour rotational blackouts are now being implemented, as power distributors in Mindanao are assigned load allocations to maintain under the curtailment plan.

I remember in the States the talk of El Niño and it causing changes of the weather pattern. An El Niño condition is when there is warmer than normal water surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean and in the opposite La Niña is a cooling surface temperature trend. These surface temperature changes affect the weather patterns all over the world. It can cause increased or decreased hurricane activity and cause flooding rains or  decreased precipitation causing draughts.

It is strange because a few months ago I talked about all the rain we were receiving but overall there has been a decrease of rainfall on Mindanao. Since there is a Power Grid where electricity is shared all over the island, decreased rainfall has significantly lowered the lakes and rivers. Not like in America where a winters snow pack is monitored for the summer water levels, here it never snows so an average rainfall is needed all year long to supplement the lakes levels.

I also found plans for a new hydroelectric to be constructed starting this year but will not be online until 2014. So far, now let us do our rain dances and pray for many flooding downpours. For Davao, I hope the rains fall further away where the lakes and rivers are and less In Davao.

In our home country, we never think about water service, it is always there. Most times if the water utility company needs to do work, they will reroute it so there is not lose of service. If there is to be a loss of service, the customers will be notified well in advance to fill bath tubs and containers.

Here in Davao, there are times or locations where water pressure goes down or service is unavailable. At our first home, in the mornings, since so many people were using water, there was only enough pressure for water to come out of a faucet, but not enough pressure to flow from the shower. Many Filipino homes do not have shower heads and use a bucket and small pail to shower and fill it from a lower faucet.

The supply mains in most housing communities are small and pressure is low. Where we live now, there has only been a few times we did not have water service but mostly the water pressure, even though not as good like in America but sufficient to shower and household needs. In our house, the flow rate drops if more than one faucet supply is on. However, for some areas this would still be good.

When I was working, there was no water service until between 11am and 1pm. Every night someone would fill a small plastic garbage type pail with water to be available for all water uses including flushing the toilet. If the water was exhausted before the service was back, no flushing or water to wash hands was available.

Many homes and businesses have large plastic or metal tanks at their homes. Some use this as a backup for low pressure or outages. There are also subdivisions that only have water service for a few hours a day. Because of the low supply, they turn on service to one area then shut it off and turn it on for the next area. One family I know have a tank and later afternoon when they have service turn on a pump to fill their tank. This daily chore cannot be ignored or forgotten. They cannot use a timer for the pump because the exact time the service is available varies. Without water, the pump will burn out.

Even though Davao’s water is rated one of the best in the Philippines or maybe Asia, most homes buy bottled water and have a standing dispenser. This water is used for drinking. It is delivered weekly and they pick up the empties and replace with the amount of bottles needed for the week.

Living in Davao or probably most urban areas of the Philippines things we took for granted in our home country are not the same as here. Water pressure losses, brownouts (term here used for a blackout or loss of power) phone and internet service and customer service is not the same or quality of service.

Well on Saturday the 26th we were having lunch and I hear a “boom”. I looked out the window and our power and phone lines were lying down across our driveway. A Power company truck which was getting things ready for the next day drove down the street with the Cherry Picker basket raised and pulled down the lines and pulled the mounting bracket off the wall.

Well they quickly got on our roof, reattached the bracket and reinstalled the power cables. Then they called the phone company to come reinstall our phone lines.

We called the phone company too and were told we were on the emergency repair list. Emergency is not so since they did not show up until 10am Sunday morning.

Sunday at 6am I woke to the sound of my cell phone beep from the charger going off and that was not all, all the power was off.

What a morning, no lights, no fans, no TV, nothing. The day before I filled some zip lock bags with water and put in the freezer. I then moved all the foods together and put the ice around and over them.

Since I am working and Elena is still recovering from her operation, I was in a dilemma. We usually do our marketing on Sunday and with no power I did not want to buy food to watch it spoil. Saturday evening I was texting a friend and mentioned my problem. Also my car is in the dealership for some body work, but that is another story. My friend offered to come pick us up, take us to the markets and then we could put our perishables in his refrigerator and freezer.

At 10am, just as the phone company repairman showed up my friend arrived too. After the phone was fixed, off to the mall we went. We first had lunch and then did our shopping. After shopping we went to his house to wait out the day.

At 5pm we sent a text to a friend on our street to ask if the power was back on. The answer was no. The we sent a text at 6pm and same answer. By 6:45 Elena said we needed to come home since the girls needed to get their uniforms washed and ready for school the next day. (typical here, wait to the last minute)

My friend offered for us to leave our food in his refrigerator and he will deliver it to use the next morning.

Driving home was very eerie driving down our street. The only lights was headlights from vehicles and the lights to workmen were using to work. We got in the gate and one of the girls used the lighted cell phone to find the keyhole.

About 15 minutes later the power was restored. I lifted the phone handset to see if the phone still worked and only heard static. You could call it but then both ends heard static.

When I sent a text to my friend that the power was on he told me he would be at the house about 10:15 the next morning. To indulge more on his kindness I mentioned Elena had a doctors appointment about that time so could he give her a ride to the doctors. Again he said no problem.
Even with all the trouble and trials of the day my friend showed there are still some nice and helpful people in the world. My friend is one of the best.