Editorial: Agonizingly Unacceptable

AN HOUR without electricity is tolerable. Two to three hours, agonizing. But 16 hours? Clearly unacceptable.

People from some parts of Pampanga had to suffer 16 hours without electricity last Sunday, when students going back to school were supposed to sleep early in preparation for their first day of classes.

Instead, the children and their parents were made to bear with the heat of the night without the comforts of electric fans or air-conditioning units -- not to mention mosquito and other insect bites.

Because of what happened, irate consumers have berated the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines or NGCP.

Who can blame the affected residents? We have been having humid nights for as long as we can remember. It's hard enough to get a good night's sleep even with the aircon on. What more without?

Not that they don't understand that the NGCP is merely trying to make better their services in the future. It's normal that they make repairs and upgrades.

But 16 hours is 16 hours.

The NGCP, however, was quick to explain what happened. According to a statement, the 16-hour blackout was "caused by a technical problem that occurred while expanding power sources."

There were "unforeseen technical problems" encountered by the NGCP team, they said, which caused the delay.

That's the operative word: "unforeseen". This is an acceptable reason for those who understand, but for those whose normal routines were disrupted, "unforeseen" is just another excuse for "we don't know what happened."

Or, "we don't know what we're doing."