SOME areas in Negros Oriental will experience a 12-hour power interruption on Sunday, October 4, which will also lead to interruption of water supply in some parts of this capital city.
The Negros Oriental Electric Cooperative II (Noreco II), in an advisory, said a scheduled power service interruption from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday will affect areas from Calo, San Jose town to the entire areas of Sibulan, Dumaguete City, Valencia, Bacong, Dauin, Zamboanguita, and Siaton.
The reason for the brownout is that the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) will de-energize its Amlan-Siaton 69kV transmission line "to continue the implementation of its program to replace wood poles with steel poles."
Noreco II, meanwhile, will also conduct parallel maintenance activities along the affected areas.
In relation to the brownout, the Dumaguete City Water District (DCWD) also announced Friday, October 2, that areas expected to have no water or low water supply are Barangays Balugo, Candau-ay, Batinguel, Taclobo, Motong, Buñao, Camanjac, Piapi, Bantayan, and Daro.
DCWD has asked its clients/concessionaires to store water ahead of the power service interruption as supply is expected to return to normal by 6 p.m. Sunday.
As this developed, Assistant Provincial Health Officer Dr. Liland Estacion, the health committee chair of the province's Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), cautioned the public against going to the beaches or flocking to malls or similar establishments.
She said at a press briefing Friday that swimming for leisure is still prohibited, noting that people left their homes to cool off at the beach during the last previous long brownout in the province.
That time, a resort was shut down because a Covid-19 positive patient roamed around that day, and people were shaken afterward upon hearing that the female had tested positive of the coronavirus days later, she added.
Estacion reminded the people that the pandemic is not yet over and therefore they should not let their guards down.
She appealed to barangay officials to monitor the people going out of their home in their respective villages as she reiterated the need to observe proper health protocols, such as physical distancing, wearing of face masks/covers, and the use of alcohol and similar disinfectants.
The Department of Trade and Industry has already allowed 75 percent accommodation in establishments but there is no guarantee that people are already safe from the threat of the Covid-19 here, she said. (PNA)