Rotational Blackout Hits Manila and Some Parts of Luzon

Widespread power interruption sparked in Metro Manila and other parts in Luzon in Wednesday, May 8, as major power plant went into emergency shutdown.

Is the blackout an election scenario preview?

"The government is not expecting blackouts on the day Filipinos will cast their ballots", said Irma Exconde, director at Energy department.

She added that as analyzed throughout the year, election day has in fact registered the lowest demand. She further noted that power failure was unexpected and there is no assurance that it will not happen again.

"We are looking forward to everything turning out okay, "she noted and even added that "there's always a possibility of power failure."

Four-Hour Rotational Blackout

"Due to power generation deficiency brought about by the outage of several power plants, a 4-hour rotational brown-ouy is presently being implemented", Meralco said.

The emergency shutdown of five power plants caused power failure, not in detailed by the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) spokesperson Mutya Alanbanza.

The blackout has also led to stoppage in train operations and toll gates.

"There is no estimated time of restoration yet, all efforts are being exerted to restore the power the soonest possible time," Meralco said.