“TO BE or not to be, that is the question,” perhaps is one of the most famous lines in all English literature but arguably also one of the most mysterious.
Hamlet’s soliloquy from William Shakespeare's play is a meditation on the nature of life and death. As far as Ceneco is concerned, this cryptic utterance could mean “power or brownout."
We very well know that in our litany of complaints against power interruption, Ceneco is also ready with its invocation based on technicality and legality. Just like in a figure of speech, there is a reason for every drop of rain that falls.
When there are brownouts, especially prolonged brownouts, we the consumers have no choice but to curse the power cessation and Ceneco becomes the subject of the sentence, emphatically!
We consider it unusual if we have four to six brownouts in one day. A brownout cuts off our internet connection, thus, destroying our precious files. Many of us work from home... teachers, students, call center agents, home-based entrepreneurs and those who are attending webinars and teleconferences.
On a moonless night without electricity, parents worry so much because of the dangerous mosquitoes hovering around the children for a blitzkrieg attack and that could result in dengue. Electric fans become a necessity not just a commodity.
The senior citizens who are in the pre-departure area of life here on earth are dependent on oxygen tanks. The gadgets involved cannot operate without that precious electricity from Ceneco. If they die during the repetitive brownouts, can we call it mercy killing? I am just asking hypothetically.
Many, which includes me, have wailed and moaned when their appliances and office equipment stop to function after the sudden halt-and-go of electricity. We cannot afford to buy new computer sets, television sets, refrigerators, washing machines and electric fans. Can Ceneco pay what has been damaged and destroyed by the habitual power interruption?
Many are calling Ceneco “inutil” to borrow the word of President Duterte referring to himself. Can Ceneco accept that? The “patay-siga” scenario during trip-offs makes our villages twinkle as if we are living in a Christmas Village. December comes early as a compliment from Ceneco Claus.
We know of several entrepreneurs who are badly hit by the pandemic. They shifted their business from the normal flow to buy and sell. They purchased vegetables, fish and meat to be kept in their freezers. Here comes lightning, thunder and rain, then “plok!” A long brownout becomes their “Apocalypse Now.”
According to Ceneco, most of the prolonged unscheduled power interruptions in Silay City were caused by the Bacolod-Silay 69kV transmission line trouble. This primary line is the backbone distribution line running from Mansilingan, Bacolod City to Silay.
Ceneco explains that any line trouble occurring anywhere in Bacolod, Talisay or Silay will instantly experience automatic trip-off of power. The troubleshooting of the 69Kv line usually takes a long time because the distribution line will be surveyed from Bacolod to Silay.
Ceneco added that access to private property and vegetation during troubleshooting sometimes causes delay but Ceneco people are doing their best to find solutions. For how long? That is the question that matters.
What else can we do? If Ceneco has already shown its best and we are not happy, so Ceneco has to give what is beyond its best. Only Ceneco can decide... to be or not to be. Thanks for sharing this article with your friends. Let me hear from you in the next brownout.