Energy agencies form 'Task Force Halalan'

Several agencies under the Philippines' Department of Energy on Friday said they will band together as "Task Force Halalan" and come out with contingency measures to ensure a continuous and reliable power supply during the national elections next month. Task Force Halalan is composed of the National Transmission Corp., National Power Corp., and the National Electrification Administration. They will be joined by the Manila Electric Co., the country's largest power distributor. “As we have reported to the Department of Energy, we have banded together to re-activate ‘Task Force Halalan’ (TFH). Our preparations are proceeding smoothly and we are now in the fine tuning phase," Transco president and CEO Arthur N. Aguilar said The official said the task force will coordinate its efforts with any other concerned agency. “All agencies involved have already agreed on the major issues including preventive maintenance schedules, information sharing and reporting system, and security arrangements," Aguilar said. Task Force Halalan will seek to prevent the repetition of a series of power outages that hit Metro Manila on Wednesday. Several parts of the Philippine capital were hit by power blackouts on Wednesday, after the country’s National Power Corp. failed to address peaking demand for electricity connected with the summer season.-GMANews.TV