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Friday, March 29, 2024

Palace: No plot to cut power

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Malacañang on Sunday denied allegations that the government will stage power outages during the May 9 elections in order to cheat.

“That is unfounded, illogical. The government is preparing and intensively engaged with the Department of Energy on the situation, and this is showed by the good cooperation between government and the private sector to ensure adequacy of electricity supply,” said Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. in an interview over state-run dzRB.

Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr.

The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines earlier said longer power interruptions are expected in Mindanao due to the delayed repairs of electric towers bombed earlier in North Cotabato and Lanao del Sur.

Energy Secretary Zenaida Monsada also said an energy task force created specifically for the elections has started their work and is monitoring the situation to ensure sufficient power during the election period.

House leaders earlier called on the Commission on Elections to set up a task force that would ensure enough power on Election Day.

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Coloma said consultations and inspections of all power installations are being conducted by the DoE in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao due to the tight supply situation.

Due to the unsueasonal heat, Coloma said more electricity is being consumed nationwide.

“The Department of Energy is monitoring all of these. Their goal is to ensure reliability of the supply of electricity,” said Coloma.

Meanwhile, Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. yesterday called on energy officials to ensure there will be no power outages on election day.

Marcos aired the call after the Luzon grid was put on red alert for around three hours Friday afternoon due to a power supply deficiency.

“The power supply situation is alarming and the government must do everything to ensure there will be no brownouts during the elections because it could put into question the results,” said Marcos.

Power officials attributed the red alert to higher demand as well as the scheduled maintenance shutdown of several power plants, reduced capacity of some plants and unexpected breakdowns in several others.

“I can bear the brownouts that seem to follow my campaign, but the Filipino people will not accept any excuses from the government if brownouts would plague our elections,” said Marcos.

Earlier, Marcos said that unexpected brownouts hit places where he was campaigning in Iloilo, Negros Oriental and Tagbilaran City in Bohol.

“While our officials are assuring us that there won’t be any brownouts on the day of the elections, the fact that we still have thin power reserves with barely three weeks before the elections continues to be a cause for concern,” he said.

 

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