SERVING as one of the voting centers in Lapu-Lapu City, Pajo National High School will have only seven ground-floor classrooms to utilized in the elections on Monday, May 12, 2025.
Mitchel Misa, principal of Pajo National High School, told SunStar Cebu on Tuesday, May 6, that the Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) Lapu-Lapu City Office has designated only seven classrooms for use, fewer than the more than 10 classrooms assigned in previous elections.
Misa said that a waiting room near the school gates intended for senior citizens will also be utilized for the elderly voters’ convenience.
SunStar Cebu reported on March 20 that the school has been experiencing frequent power interruptions caused by overheating, as the electrical breaker has reached its maximum capacity.
According to published reports, the school’s rewiring and breaker expansion have been delayed due to the ongoing election ban.
Misa said that random power interruptions are “less likely” during the voting process, as only Automated Counting Machines, lights, electric fans in the seven classrooms, and the first-floor lobby lights will be in use.
“The directive from the Department of Education, especially from Engr. Jacalan following the request, is really to implement deloading. His instruction is to avoid using the air conditioning units in the school, especially in the ICT laboratories,” said Misa in Cebuano.
Unscheduled outage
Meanwhile, a sudden power outage disrupted electricity supply in several barangays in Lapu-Lapu City on Tuesday morning, leaving many residents and businesses without power for over three hours.
The Mactan Electric Company, Inc. (Meco), the local electricity distributor, reported that the outage began around 9:14 a.m. due to a fault in its 69-kilovolt (kV) Gas Insulated Switchgear (GIS) line.
As identified, the disruption affected seven feeders, Feeders 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 10A, which service key areas including Barangays Basak, Bankal, Pajo, Babag, and other nearby communities.
The power was restored at exactly 12:36 p.m.
In an official statement on Tuesday, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) clarified that its transmission lines are operating normally.
“National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) clarifies that transmission facilities serving Mactan Electric Company, Inc. (Meco) are operating under normal conditions, with no reported line outages,” the statement read.
NGCP added that the issue was isolated within Meco’s distribution system, specifically the tripping of the Basak 69kV line, which is owned and maintained by the power distribution utility company.
Meco is the private electric distribution utility responsible for supplying electricity to consumers throughout Lapu-Lapu City, Olango Island and the Municipality of Cordova. / DPC