MAYOR Evelio Leonardia might think that Bacolod being chosen as the Top Philippine Model City is a bragging right. The City of Smiles won The Manila Time’s search for the most livable urban centers in the country.
“This award validates what Bacolod is now. This will inspire us more to cultivate a culture of excellence, not just for contests like this, but for our values as a people with a high sense of responsibility,” crowed Leonardia.
Bacolod bested Batangas, Davao, General Santos, Laoag, Mandaluyong, Naga, Parañaque, Quezon, San Fernando, Sta. Rosa, Tagaytay, and Zamboanga.
The city won on the basis of Peace and Security, Rest and Recreation, Research and Development, Health and Education, Clean and Green, Road and Home, Livelihood and Employment, Youth and Elders, Tax and Services, and Emergency or Disaster Preparedness.
Well, fine. However, the award seems to have excluded such amenities that public utilities such as consistent power supplies. Otherwise, the Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco) Inc. could drag down Bacolod’s rating.
How can Bacolod brag about livability when everyday, the city suffers consistently experiences power outages?
Sure, Ceneco has advisories on brownouts due to maintenance activities to ensure stability of distribution lines and avoid further serious damages that will result to major interruptions.
Last month, former Ceneco president Arnel Lapore said the recent power interruptions are not due to lack of power supply, but because of the summer heat. “We have put in place a protection that’s why intermittent brownouts do not take too long,” he rationalized.
Last year, Frank Carbon, regional governor of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, asked Ceneco, “Unscheduled brownouts disrupt business operations and damage our equipment,” asking that “if it is true, how can it be corrected?”
Yes, I second that question. A fundamental part of every manager’s role is finding ways to solve them. Says Albert Einstein “If I had an hour to solve a problem I’d spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about solutions.”
But is the technical solution to create intermittent brownouts? That sounds like the kind of solution I’d make. But then I’m not an electric engineer and my solution, admittedly, is irresponsible. It’s unacceptable.
But then, I’m not, and will never be, a Ceneco president.
(bqsanc@yahoo.com)