Senatorial candidate Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez on Tuesday expressed concern over the possibility of rotating brownouts hitting Mindanao on election day, stressing this is a serious threat to truthful and honest elections.
Romualdez, head of the House Independent Bloc, said the Department of Energy should have been able to find solution to ensure adequate power supply on May 9, 2016.
“This is unacceptable and a serious threat to the integrity of the polls. The possible rotating brownouts could have been prevented had the DoE work double time a long time ago in ensuring sufficient energy requirements for the May 9 polls,” Romualdez lamented.
During last week’s consultative hearing called by the House committee on energy, Energy Secretary Zenaida Monsada assured the public that there will be no failure of elections, pointing out that there will be enough energy supply before, during and after the May 9 general elections
But this week, Monsada warned of rotating brownouts in Mindanao on election day, but assured the public that there would be enough power for Mindanao polling centers to transmit election results.
Romualdez reiterated his challenge for the presentation of a “dependable” contingency measures that would guarantee a stable power supply aimed at averting the possible failure of elections.
He said the DoE should already have presented a well-planned and reliable contingency measures to address possible failure of elections in Mindanao because of the delayed repairs of power transmissions that were earlier bombed in North Cotabato and Lanao del Sur.
“What we want to hear is a categorical statement on their preparedness in averting a failure of elections as a result of the delayed repairs of transmission towers,” Romualdez stressed.
“The government must guarantee the public that it is capable of preventing power outages during the election day especially in Mindanao,” said Romualdez,
who earlier condemned the series of bombings of power transmissions in Mindanao which drew public fears about potential failure of elections in the country’s second largest island with nearly 13-million registered voters.
Latest reports quoted Monsada that Luzon and Visayas’s power supply were positive.
The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines had said Mindanao would not have a gross reserve of power.
It said that systems demand in the island group was projected to peak at 1,490 megawatts, while available capacity was only 1,415 megawatts – short by 75 megawatts.