Safeguards vs brownouts on election day in place - Comelec

Several safeguards have been put in place to ensure that elections will go on smoothly even if brownouts occur during the conduct of the May 10 polls, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said Friday. In an interview over radio dzBB, Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal said generator sets will be made available in polling and canvassing centers on Election Day. The Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines that would be used to count the votes and transmit results are also equipped with batteries that can last for 16 hours – enough to last until the end of the 11-hour voting period from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., he said. "Independent of any power source, they can still run," Larrazabal said. "Ang focus talaga namin is the elections. If there is a brownout I believe that's another aspect that some people think might affect the running of elections but as for the machines, gagana yung machines (the machines will work)," he said. Smartmatic-TIM, the supplier of PCOS machines, will provide generator sets to canvassing centers, Larrazabal said. He added that the League of Governors has also proposed to place generator sets in polling centers. Larrazabal said all the generator sets would also be tested. This is not the first time that poll officials have given assurance of a smooth conduct of elections on May 10 amid possible power interruptions. Just last week, Comelec chief Jose Melo said power outages will not hamper this year's polls. [See: Power outages will not hamper May polls - Melo] Concerns that brownouts will derail the elections were raised last week amid reports of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) having low electric power reserves. Parts of Metro Manila and the Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) region experienced rotating brownouts on January 25. The entire Luzon grid was placed under red alert by the NGCP after one of their Sual units encountered generation insufficiency shortly after noon on that day. At the time, the brownout affected several villages in the cities of Parañaque, Pasig, Muntinlupa, Manila and Makati in the National Capital Region, as well as Cainta, San Mateo and Rodriguez in Rizal province. The area of Pateros in Taguig was also affected, as well as portions of Marikina, Malabon, Valenzuela and Navotas. Power distributor Manila Electric Co. earlier said the power outage likewise would hit the towns of Lucena, Tayabas, and Pagbilao in Quezon province; Calamba in Laguna; Dasmaiñas and General Mariano Alvarez in Cavite; and Obando in Bulacan. - LBG/RSJ, GMANews.TV