Gov’t, power firms urged to ensure power availability on polls days A Davao del Norte-based consumer group has asked the government and all the stakeholders in the electricity industry to ensure that power will be available during the duration of the May 9 elections.
The need for an uninterrupted power supply is paramount considering that in many places in the country, particularly in Mindanao, races are tightly contested, said Ave Rose Castillo, convenor of the DavNor Modernization Movement.
“The availability of an uninterrupted power supply is crucial to our right of suffrage because there are many areas in the country, particularly in Mindanao, where political rivalry is intense,” said Castillo, adding that in the past elections, unscrupulous individuals took advantage of power outages to cheat. “We need to ensure that the counting machines operate without interruption and the voting precincts are lighted so the voice of the people will be heard and counted,” she added In the Davao Region, the Police Regional Office (PRO) identified 16 municipalities that are considered hotspots either because of intense political rivalry or the presence of armed groups, particularly the New People’s Army. The PRO said it is augmenting the units in these areas to prevent untoward incidents.
The Mindanao Development Authority also assured the availability of power supply during the election process as there is an expected excess of about 1,000 megawatts of power, more than enough to cushion any possible shortage of supply in case one of the plants faulter. Although he said there is no expected system-wide brownout, Adrian Tamayo, MinDA public relations head, said isolated cases may still cause because of unforeseen events like force of natures that may result in tripping of transmission system.
Castillo said distribution units must double-check their systems and inspect lines into voting centers to avoid overloading and other line hazards. Power plants must also ensure their facilities will run and no major shutdowns will happen leading into and immediately after the elections.
“Minor problems must immediately be resolved to avoid these to become bigger especially as the May 9 election day is fast approaching,” she said. “Minor problems must immediately be resolved to avoid these to become bigger especially as the May 9 election day is fast approaching,” she said.
