MANILA -- A two-hour rotating brownout again occurred in Manila from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday as per the directive of the Manila Electric Company (Meralco).
In Meralco's bulletin issued Thursday, it stated the areas that will be affected of the rotating brownout. These are: Pasay, Malabon, and other parts of Caloocan and Makati City.
Other places in the south such as Los Baños, Laguna is also set to experience a brownout at 12 midnight Friday up to 5 a.m. of the same day.
As of Thursday, the National Grid Corporation recorded shortages of 1,200 megawatts from the Iligan Diesel Power Plant, 508 megawatts from Sta. Rita Plant and 315 megawatts from Masinloc Plant in Zambales.
Caliraya power plant in Laguna is also experiencing a shortage because of the low level of water from Laguna de Bay due to El Niño, according to National Power Corporation (Napocor) spokesman Dennis Gana.
"Residents in Metro Manila and nearby provinces will not experience the rotating brownouts if Napocor can activate other power plants in the country that can help ease the shortage in power supply," Gana said in a radio interview.
Earlier, the Iligan Diesel Power Plant in Mindanao was activated by Napocor after two weeks of being shut down in order to ease the power crisis in the region.
Metro Manila as well as some provinces in Southern Tagalog has been experiencing rotating brownouts. (Angela Casauay/Sunnex)