SAN JOSE, Occidental Mindoro (PIA) — With only four (4) hours of electric service per day, protesters gathered in San Jose municipal covered plaza recently in a rally called Oksi Walang Power Movement to express their grievances and plead for a solution for the power crisis experienced across Occidental Mindoro.
Christopher Aguilar, convener of Oksi Walang Power Movement highlighted that the people are greatly affected by the power crisis and that the people need immediate answers to the problem.
“Ang usapin natin ngayon sa kuryente ay talagang sobra na…hindi natin kailangan ng paliwanag; solusyon ang kailangan natin,” Aguilar said.
(The issue of electricity is burdensome. We do not need explanations; we need a solution.)
Participants from the education sector voiced out how the power crisis affected their work as without electricity, making and printing out test papers, writing lesson plans, and preparing lessons for students are impeded.
Governor Eduardo Gadiano issued an executive order earlier in the month, cancelling classes for private and public schools due to the discomforts brought about by the power crisis. According to Mary Queen Bernardo from the Department of Education (DepEd) Provincial Office, some students have reportedly experienced headaches due to the heat of the dry season combined with the unavailability of electric fans and lights in the classrooms because of power outages.
A signature campaign, inked by Member-Consumers (MCOs) of Occidental Mindoro Electric Cooperative (OMECO), were also done as a petition to convene a special general assembly with the electric distributor in the province for possible short and long-term solutions.
Allan Paul Catena from the education sector said that the crisis has impeded the province’s economic growth and through the rally, the people hope to reach the national government for an immediate response.
On this note, the governor recently shared his letter to President Ferdinand Marcos to the public through his facebook page, asking for the president’s intercession on this matter. In the letter, Gadiano said that with Marcos’ intervention, “a permanent and long-lasting solution to [the] power predicament will be implemented” immediately. (DSG/PIA MIMAROPA)
Member-Consumers (MCOs) of the Occidental MIndoro Electrive Cooperative signed a petition to convene a special general assembly with the province’s electric distributor for possible short and long-term solutions to the power crisis in the province.
