Comelec to meet Zambo electric firm to address power woes

Comelec to meet Zambo electric firm to address power woes

ZAMBOANGA CITY -- A meeting set this week seeks to assess the power situation in this city to ensure that there will be no power interruptions during the May 13 midterm elections, an election officer said Monday.

Lawyer Jan Christian Babiera, second district election officer, said representatives from the Zamboanga City Electric Cooperative (Zamcelco), the Police Regional Office-9 (PRO-9), and the military's Western Mindanao Commander (Westmincom) are set to discuss the contingency plans in relation to the power situation in this city.

Babiera said they will ask Zamcelco to "initiate measures so that there will be no brownouts during the May 13 elections."

The election officer, however, allayed fears of disruption in the voting process in the event of unforeseen brownouts.

"Our vote counting machines (VCM) have a backup battery that can last for 12 hours," Babiera said.

Babiera recalled that even during the height of the power crisis in Mindanao, which coincided with the 2013 elections, the voting process was not compromised.

Zamboanga City has been plagued with unannounced daily brownouts running up to four hours due to inadequate supply and voltage loss.

It is the only city in the mainland of Mindanao that is experiencing unscheduled sustained power interruptions since the Western Mindanao Power Corporation (WMPC) stopped running its 105-megawatt bunker-fired power plant due to non-payment of past due accounts by Zamcelco.

Police Brig. Gen. Emmanuel Luis Licup, PRO-9 director, assured they are adopting measures to ensure the safety of voters on election day.

Licup urged Zamcelco to maintain power supply throughout the voting process, including the counting and the transmission and submission of the results of the elections.

"The results of the election must be safeguarded," he added. (PNA)