Romualdez wants power supply assured for election

SENATORIAL candidate and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez on Tuesday said the Department of Energy (DOE) should draw up contingency measures to ensure a stable power supply in Mindanao on Election Day in the wake of the unabated bombings of power transmission towers.

In a statement, Romualdez said the DOE must assess the power supply in Mindanao to make sure there would be no failure of elections in the region where two of his presidential endorsers—Vice President Jejomar Binay and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte—are the frontrunners based on poll surveys.

“The DOE must assure the public that there will be adequate power supply during the May polls, especially in Mindanao,” said Romualdez.

Mindanao has 13 million registered voters or 24 percent of the total 54.4 million registered voters in the country.

Romualdez said the lack of power to run the automated poll counting machines in Mindanao could lead to a failure of elections.

The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines said only one line remained in operation to deliver power from Agus 1 and 2 hydroelectric plants to the island grid. It warned that any further attacks on the remaining transmission towers could lead to a collapse of the power distribution systems in Mindanao.

Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez said 18 transmissions have already been bombed and destroyed in the last few months which he feared has raised doubts on the reliability of power supply in the region.

Rodriguez said transmission damage had further worsened the power situation in Mindanao which was already experiencing four to eight hours of daily outages due to low power supply.

Romualdez said the military and police should step up security around the transmission towers because Mindanao could not afford to have more of its power transmission towers crippled or damaged.

“We cannot afford a failure of elections in the entire Mindanao just because of the incompetence of our concerned authorities in carrying out their duties and mandate to protect vital installations. Our authorities should also dig deeper into the possibility of sabotage by some lawless elements who are out to disrupt the May presidential polls,” said Romualdez.