READY FOR ELECTION DAY. Lawyer Cynthia Alabanza (left), assistant vice president for the public relations department of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), says they will make sure to have their delivery system fully functional for the Oct. 30 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE). In an interaction with the media during their Power 101 briefing Monday (Oct. 16, 2023), she said that in case of a problem on the system, their operations and maintenance personnel are on standby to do restoration efforts. (PNA photo by PGLena)
ILOILO CITY – The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) will make sure that transmission lines are “up and running” during the Oct. 30 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) in Panay Island even if there are things that are beyond their control.
“We will endeavor that the delivery system is up and running,” said lawyer Cynthia Alabanza, assistant vice president for public relations department of the NGCP, during the Power 101 seminar held here Monday.
Alabanza said that in case of a problem with the system, their operations and maintenance crew are on standby to do restoration efforts.
The restoration will depend on the nature and extent of the disturbance but if it is “something more damaging,” it will take longer, she said.
Lazaro de La Cruz Jr., operations and maintenance senior manager for District 4 Panay, said they already conducted maintenance operations as early as last month, where among the focus was the conduct of line patrol to trim vegetation.
“Starting Oct. 28, we will have a quick response team and we will be doing the checking and rechecking of all transmission lines for possible defects that need to be corrected,” he said.
Substation engineers will already be on a double shift for them to act promptly in case of interruptions or any trouble, and technical persons who do troubleshooting of high voltage equipment or transformers are on high alert status.
They will also be coordinating with the Philippine National Police (PNP) for the security of their substations and transmission lines, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
In a separate interview, Comelec regional election supervisor lawyer Dennis Ausan said all their contingencies, including the power, are already in place.
“We have met before with the power sector, and they have also assured us we will not have problems as regards the power aspect of doing the election. They have set contingency measures in the event there will be outages that could not be avoided,” he said on Monday.
He said preparation is almost done as they are wrapping up the training of electoral boards and barangay board of canvassers.
The Joint Security Control Center on Tuesday afternoon has its final command conference before the election to have a second look at its security preparations, he added.
The commission also expected the arrival of accountable forms and supplies anytime this week following their dispatch from Laguna on Oct. 12.
Ausan said the commission is also ready for the start of the campaign period on Oct. 19-28.
“How I wish everything will be done smoothly and all within the confines of the rules and regulations we have set,” he added. (PNA)
