Press Secretary Crispulo Icban Jr. said Tuesday the government is studying several options to increase the power supply in Mindanao.

In a press briefing, Icban said among the option proposed by the energy department is to have large companies in Mindanao operate from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. when there is oversupply of electricity.

“These are all options still being studied and the moment the Cabinet decides and the President approves, everybody will be brought in so there will be a joint solution to the problem,” he said.

Icban said the power shortage in Mindanao is “a real problem and not an invented or concocted problem,” rejecting speculations the situation was man-made.

"The problem is just short-term. It will be over when the rains come in June," he said.

The government is expected to finalize this week a package of programs to raise the power supply of Mindanao without seeking the approval of Congress.

Executive Secretary Leandro Mendoza said the Department of Energy has proposed five options to address the power crisis in the south, including the promotion of night shift for heavy industries when power demand is low.

Other measures under study by a team of Cabinet members are government-private sector partnership on the lease of generator sets, movement of power barges, power load sharing among companies, said Mendoza.

“(Energy) Secretary (Angelo) Reyes has presented five options and these options are the ones deliberated by a group of Cabinet members and I think in two or three days, there is going to be a decision on how to address the Mindanao problem,” Mendoza said in a news conference in the Palace.

“Even without the approval of Congress, the solutions offered can address adequately the problem of power shortage in Mindanao,” he said.

Mendoza said the Cabinet agreed on some power relief options but deferred to Reyes to elaborate on the details.

Mendoza said the government is planning to tap the private sector on the lease of generator sets and power barges to ease the burden on costs.

He said the government may provide “window for financing” and other incentives for private companies who would help augment power supply in Mindanao.

The Cabinet team studying these solutions includes Reyes, Finance Secretary Margarito Teves, Mindanao Development Authority chairman Jesus Dureza, and Defense Secretary Norberto Gonzales Mendoza said the private sector would be also be consulted on these proposals in the next few days. He said they also expect to determine the final cost of the solutions to power shortage in Mindanao during these meetings.

The President earlier decided she would not call for a special session of Congress to pass a resolution authorizing her government to take measures to augment the power supply in Mindanao.

Instead, her government would deal with the problem using existing powers.