blackouts kill productivity

I was supposed to do some work on the computer, but then the electric cooperative decided that we'll have the rolling blackout. So, instead, I volunteered to help with kitchen work for dinner - we were doing my favorite mongo. Then, since the lights were still out after that, & there's no use going outside since it's dimmed as well, I had no choice but to take a nap. Then the lights snapped back after an hour or so.

My sister said that it's been like this for months now, 1 blackout lasting for 2-3 hours on average, minimum 1 minute, maximum 24 hours. I'm only here in Davao for Christmas and summer vacation, but it never changes - I always have had my weekly share of blackout experiences. Contrast that to Metro Manila, where a 30-minute blackout per month is outrageous.

image from KM Space, creative commons license

You see, blackouts kill the intention to become productive. It is really unfair to us who live here in Mindanao if you ask us to pay for a "little more" if, until now, we're not getting what we pay for.

Imagine if malls and supermarkets were to constantly tap on gasoline or diesel generators on an almost daily basis. Imagine when small and medium enterprises suffer, like birthing clinics that have pregnant patients about to deliver, then the lights suddenly go out, and the baby decides to come out.

Look, Mr. Aquino & Mr. Almendras, if you don't even give us an assurance that we'll get a steady supply of electricity, then please understand that it'll be hard for us from Mindanao to accept your brash accusations that what we have is "cheap electricity" and that we have to pay more for electricity.

Yes, it's cheap, but it is the kind of service that has always been "cheap".I might be agreeable to privatization, but if the blackouts in our area, and replicate that a thousand times all over Mindanao, does not change even when private companies take over, then Houston we've got a problem here.

Never mind your capitalistic intentions or political slogan, Misters Aquino & Almendras. With all due respect sir, we don't give a damn. Just give us our rightful privilege to dependable electric utility that we've been unfairly paying dutifully for many years now.

image from Filippo Minelli, creative commons license

We are not worthy of this indignation. Thank you very much.