Power surge disrupts NBI operations in Bacolod City

For the second time in two weeks, a power surge disrupted operations of the National Bureau of Investigation in Bacolod City this week. Fluctuating power supplies prompted the agency to temporarily stop issuing clearances on Thursday, a report on Visayan Daily Star news site said. The incident brought inconvenience to several clearance applicants who had been waiting in line since the early hours of the morning. But NBI Negros Occidental chief Mamerto Cortez said the problem was fixed Thursday afternoon. Initial investigation showed the power surge disrupted the link connecting NBI Bacolod's computers to the NBI headquarters in Manila. Voltage regulators are being installed at the NBI to prevent power surges from damaging their equipment, Cortez said. Last May 21, scheduled brownouts caused a computer malfunction at the NBI that delayed clearance applications of at least 200 people. As a result, the NBI’s Bacolod office had to send the applicants home at the time, as it was unable to restore its system immediately. - RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV