Militant solon: Power situation used as poll tool

A militant lawmaker dismissed as palliative what he said were “useless” energy conservation tips, in the form of advertisements, being dished out by Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla, who had been accused by a militant group of using his position to advance his political ambition.

“These tips do not serve a purpose other than as a political campaign vehicle of Secretary Petilla,” said Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate, in a statement.

Zarate said as brownouts have continued to hit many parts of the country, Petilla uses these as a pretext to flood print and broadcast media with ads promoting energy tips.

Local leaders in the provinces have all but given up hope that the energy crisis will be addressed, lamenting that their constituents have already accepted the painful reality of power shortage.

Rotating brownouts have hit large parts of Cebu City, Mandaue City, Talisay City, the City of Naga and the town of Minglanilla in Metro Cebu in recent days, with some of the power outages lasting as long as 13 hours.

In Iligan City, a brownout struck for more than an hour on June 4.

According to an advisory from Iligan Light and Power Inc. (Ilpi), power went off around 2:45 p.m., “affecting the whole city.” Ilpi said it is still “investigating the trouble.” With a report by Ryan D. Rosauro, Inquirer Mindanao