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E-mailBackup plans are being prepared to address the continuing power outages in Mindanao, which pose a threat to the conduction of automated elections in May. According to Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal however, manual elections are not an option.
“[The lack of power] is not reason enough to hold manual elections [in Mindanao],” he said on Tuesday, adding that the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines which will be used to count the ballots are powered by batteries and can work for at least 16 hours before needing to be recharged.
Larrazabal also said that Comelec intends on having a meeting later this week to address the problem of intermittent power in Mindanao. The region is currently experiencing daily brownouts that last from five to fourteen hours.
“A power deficiency of 700 mW is devastating to the economy, and the water levels in the Agus and Pulangi hydroelectric plants have reached critical levels. Longer brownouts are now being experienced throughout the island region,” said Executive Secretary Leandro Mendoza.
He added that Malacanang and the Department of Energy (DOE) are working together to find a way to provide more electrical power to Mindanao.
“In two or three days, there’s going to be a decision on how to address the problem,” he said.
“What we need is a short-term solution that will not be too expensive and that is feasible because there may be proposals that would require reimportation of equipment and this is no time for that,” said Press Secretary Crispulo Icban.
According to Jesus Dureza, the new chair of the Mindanao Development Authority, the current options to address the power problem include “the transfer of available power barges to Mindanao, the running of embedded generators (that is, standby generators owned by malls, hotels and other commercial establishments), rescheduling of work/production activities of big power consumers to low demand hours, among others.”
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