GATCHALIAN TO DOE, ERC: ENSURE UNINTERRUPTED POWER ON ELECTION DAY

SENATOR Win Gatchalian urged the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to guarantee uninterrupted power nationwide on May 12, warning that any outage could compromise the integrity of the elections.

“Aside from causing inconvenience to our voters, any power interruption could potentially compromise the credibility of our elections. This is why the DOE and ERC should focus on preventing power shortages on the day of the election,” said Gatchalian, vice-chair of the Senate Committee on Energy.

He emphasized that the DOE and ERC should work closely with the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), distribution utilities, generation companies, and electric cooperatives in ensuring that the entire country would have sufficient supply of electricity on the day of the election.

According to him, there should be no unscheduled plant maintenance and ancillary services should be readily available to cover any uptick in electricity demand.

“It is critical that all stakeholders do their part in prioritizing uninterrupted supply of electricity at polling stations on election day to guarantee transparency, safeguard security, and protect our democratic process,” he added.