With just a few weeks before the elections, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Saturday, April 23, said there will be no electricity problem in the provinces of Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi (BaSulTa) on Election Day, May 9.

In an ambush interview after the signing of the Integrity Pledge in Basilan, Comelec Commissioner George Erwin M. Garcia told the media that the supply of electricity in BaSulTa from the first week of May until the third week will be more than enough.

The poll commissioner cited the most recent report of the Department of Energy (DOE) to the poll body, assuring the Comelec that there will be no electricity problem come May 9.

“Base sa pinaka latest update niya sa akin last week, wala tayong magiging problema dito sa BaSulTa. Medyo magkakaroon lang tayo ng problema na maliit sa may bandang Lanao area (Based on DOE’s latest update to me last week, we won't have any problem here in BaSulTa. We will just have a little problem in Lanao area),” Garcia told reporters.

“Pero sa BaSulTa, eksaktong-eksakto from the period of first week of May up to the third week of May, sobra-sobra ang kuryente na mabibigay sa area na ito (But in BaSulTa, we have exactly enough from the period of the first week of May up to the third week of May, we have more than enough electricity to give in this area),” he added.

Meanwhile, Garcia said the current rotational brownouts being experienced are being done to have enough electricity for the upcoming polls in BaSulTa.

“Pero pagdating ng eleksyon, hindi na nila gagawin ang pag-rotate ng brownout (But on Election Day, they said that they will no longer implement rotational brownouts),” he added.

Connectivity in BaSulTa

When asked about the connectivity in the said areas, the poll commissioner said they have yet to coordinate with the National Telecommunications (NTC) and telecom companies to ensure seamless connectivity on Election Day.

“Pero as far as transmission ng ating vote-counting machine or VCM, sa ating mga consolidation system from the precinct to the municipality we can guarantee that kasi mayroon tayong 100 percent na mga batteries (But as far as transmission of our vote-counting machine or VCM, in our consolidation systems from the precinct to the municipality we can guarantee that because we have 100 percent batteries),” he said.

“At mayroon din tayo sa ibang areas tulad ng sa ibang areas ng Basilan mayroon tayong BGAN (Broadband Global Area Network) so gagamit na rin tayo ng satellite technology para lang ma-i-transmit ang result (And we also have some areas in Basilan wherein we have BGAN units so we will use satellite technology to transmit the result),” the poll commissioner added.