Napocor assures public of brownout-free voting, canvassing

A multi-sectoral election task force, led by state controlled National Power Corp. (Napocor), assured the public yesterday of brownout-free voting on Monday as well as the subsequent canvassing of the results.

Napocor president Jesus Alcordo said there will be adequate power supply nationwide of more than 9,000 megawatts (MW) on election day, more than enough to meet the expected peak demand of 6,400 MW.

From May 11 to 29, the available capacity will hover between 8,600 MW and 9,100.

"We have drawn up a very comprehensive contingency plan to ensure that as far as power generation is concerned, there will be sufficient capacity during the period," Alcordo said during the launching of "Task Force Halalan 2001."

In another development, the National Press Club has formally scuttled the ambitious quick count for the May 14 elections.

Voting 6-5, the NPC in a special board meeting decided to scrap the project, two months after it was accredited by the Commission on Elections as one of its citizens’ arms.

The NPC said many of its volunteers were supporters of the opposition, which would compromise the credibility of its quick count.

The Commission on Elections reacted by saying the NPC will be blacklisted if it does not push through with its unofficial quick count after the Policy Strategy Advocacy Group (Polstrat), a technical management consultant group, withdrew from its partnership with NPC. – With Mayen Jaymalin, Pia Lee-Brago