Bakun plant forced to stop operations Despite the tight supply situation in the Luzon grid, plant owner and operator Hedcor Inc. opted to shut down its 70-megawatt Bakun hydropower facility as the host-community ignored an earlier letter from the Department of Energy (DOE) instructing the power firm to continue the operation of its plant. Hedcor, a subsidiary of Aboitiz Power Corporation, stipulated that representatives from the municipality of Bakun, the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples-Cordillera Administrative Region (NCIP-CAR) and the Bakun Indigenous Tribes Organization (BITO), physically visited the generating facilities of the Bakun asset on June 30, to implement a forced shutdown, based on an imprimatur of the NCIP Regional Office relative to a cease and desist order (CDO) that it issued on June 22. The power firm said the instruction was made without any reference to the directive from the DOE dated June 25 to Hedcor to continue operating. Leo Lungay, vice president for Operations and Maintenance of Hedcor, noted we are forced to stop operations, with the threat posed by the situation. The company executive added that as much as we want to continue delivering power to the Luzon grid, we dont want to compromise the safety of the community and our personnel. The media has been apprised that it was Atty Jerry A.