SORSOGON Gov. Francis Escudero on Sunday asked the Commission on Elections to present its contingency plan should there be a power outage during the voting on May 9 and the period of counting and canvassing of votes.

Citing the high demand for electricity during the hot months, Escudero said the Comelec cannot leave anything to chance as it holds one of the most heated national and local elections.

“Ang no-el na kinatatakutan natin ngayon ay hindi na ‘yung ‘no elections,’ kundi ‘yung ‘no electricity.’ Kaya gusto nating malaman ano ba ang plano ng Comelec sakaling mawalan ng koryente, lalo na sa labas ng Metro Manila. Hindi sapat na sabihin na may plano — ano ‘yung plano? Ano ‘yung protocol?” the senatorial candidate said.

The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines warned of a thin power supply in Luzon in the dry months because of the spike in demand.

This means there is very little power supply in excess of the projected demand.

The Department of Energy projected total peak demand of 12,387 MW for Luzon in the last week of May, which is a 747 MW increase from the actual peak load of 11,640 MW in the same period last year.

The Visayas and Mindanao demands peak in December and August, respectively.

“Kaakibat ng pag-automate natin ng eleksiyon, partikular ng counting at canvassing, ang pag-depende natin sa koryente at teknolohiya. Kaya iyan ang isang bagay na napakahalagang i-secure tuwing eleksiyon at bilangan. Ang DOE na mismo ang nagsabi na ‘di nila masisiguradong hindi magkaka-brownout sa May 9, so kung ganon, ano ang contingency plan ng Comelec?” Escudero said.

He said it was important for the poll body to present its plan to show transparency and build confidence in the automated election process.

The country’s automated elections require the use of thousands of vote counting machines, consolidation or canvassing system machines, VCM external batteries, transmission devices and generator sets.