Calapan City—Electric consumers from the three largest towns of Mindoro island will hold simultaneous public rallies on Saturday and Sunday to express their displeasure over alleged government inaction on persistent power outages sweeping the island for some years now.
As a result of the power crisis, food productions in Oriental Mindoro and Occidental Mindoro suffered serious setbacks, while numerous business establishments have closed shops due to the economic slowdown.
The disgruntled residents of Pinamalayan in Oriental Mindoro, and Sablayan in Occidental Mindoro will launch their respective rallies at 3 p.m. today (Saturday) while those in San Jose, a major trade hub in Occidental Mindoro, will hold their own protest action tomorrow (Sunday).
A volunteers’ group, the Mapsa Samarica Volunteers Organization or MASAVOR, has announced it will launch its demonstration against the rotational brownouts by marching around various places in San Jose at 4 p.m. on Sunday.
The group said their main objective was to let the national government “to hear and listen to our voice” speak against the destructive four to 14 hour rotational brownouts affecting their daily lives.
The erratic power distribution on the island was being blamed on the Oriental Mindoro Electric Cooperative, Inc. (Ormeco) and Occidental Mindoro Electric Cooperative, Inc. (Omeco) whose independent power providers operate 17 oil-fed and renewable energy power plants scattered all over the island.
The three Mindoro municipalities are agricultural centers and major producers of palay and corn, as well as fishery products. Sablayan is noted for its being the country’s top producer of yellow fin tuna which were being exported to member-countries of the European Union.
Lory Ordenes, a Sablayan resident and a retired government employee, said he fully support the public march to address thedebilitating power problem in the province.
“But, it will only become effective if the local officials, like the governors, congressmen, board members, and mayors will join hands with officials of the electric cooperatives and independent power providers in talking to officials of the Department of Energy and the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to address the issue,” Ordenes stressed.
“Kalampagin ang ERC, sila ang may kagagawan ng lahat ng problema ng kuryente sa buong isla ng Mindoro,” Ordenes said.
