Pacquiao’s fight day expected to be brownout-free

Manny Pacquiao’s legions of fans will likely enjoy a brownout-free viewing of their idol’s showdown with Joshua Clottey of Ghana on Sunday morning despite the current power woes. According to Manila Electric Company (Meralco) spokesman Joel Zaldarriaga, the highly-anticipated Pacquiao-Clottey falls on a Sunday, a day when demand for electricity is at a low. “Normally, kapag weekend, mas mababa ang demand compared sa week day kung saan ang mga opisina ay full blast ang operation gayun din ang mga paaralan at factory ay in full operations. We’re hoping [that there won’t be power outages during fight day]," Zaldariaga told QTV’s Balitanghali.
Fears about possible brownouts on fight day surfaced Friday when Meralco implemented rotating power outages in Metro Manila and six neighboring provinces in Luzon. Zaldarriaga explained that the one-hour rotational brownouts in Metro Manila and Batangas, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Quezon, and Rizal are due to “deficiency in terms of the power being supplied by power generators and suppliers" for the day. He cited the shutdown of the Malaya 1 and 2, the Sta. Rita, Calaca and Ilijan plants as the reason for Friday’s implementation of the “load-shedding and manual load-dropping schedule." The power distribution company, though, expects the power situation to improve by weekend, in time for Pacquiao’s latest ring outing. “Bukas [Saturday] at sa darating na Linggo, being a weekend, usually, mas mababa ang demand [for electricity] so we’re hoping the situation will be better," the Meralco official said. Still, many local governments, including those in Metro Manila, that plan to show the Pacquiao-Clottey fight via live feed from the Cowboys Stadium in Texas aren’t taking chances. A dzBB report said organizers of such free showings are setting up power generators in their respective venues so that "Pacfans" can still savor an uninterrupted viewing of the pound-for-pound king’s prowess inside the ring, just in case a power outage occurs. - GMANews.TV