In a statement, TransCo said the power outage in Bacolod, Silay, Talisay, E.B. Magalona and Victorias since Saturday morning until Sunday afternoon was caused by toppled poles in the Abkasa area in the eastern part of Bacolod.
Meanwhile, due to the two-day brownout in Bacolod and northern areas, public and private hospitals in Bacolod, including the one in Silay City, were also flooded with patients who had difficulty breathing.
At the Our Lady of Mercy Specialty Hospital in Eroreco in Bacolod, doctors and nurses said more than 100 asthmatic patients were rushed to their emergency room (ER) and were plugged with nebulizers to relieve themselves from asthma attack.
The same situation was also observed at the Teresita Jalandoni Memorial Provincial Hospital in Silay City, where young and old alike also sought the ER for nebulizers.
Similar scenarios happened at the Riverside Medical Center, Bacolod Doctors' Hospital, Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital and Bacolod Adventist's Hospital.
The destruction of the four TransCo poles caused brownouts in barangay Mandalagan, Talisay City and Silay City since Saturday.
Central Negros Electric Cooperative Inc. (Ceneco) president Roberto Montelibano said, "TransCo work now has to start until power is fully restored. I am appealing to people not to be irritated. TransCo poles are inside a private property and we should respect this."
"Now that TransCo technical people are allowed by the Alunan family, let us thank them instead for rendering public service," Montelibano added.
Ceneco press officer Roel Venus assured Bacolod consumers that power had been restored 100 percent. "Should there be areas in Bacolod that are experiencing brownouts, these are isolated technical problems like open wires and tripping transformers, among others, which can easily be fixed." (Erwin Ambo Delilan with reports from Gil Alfredo Severino)
