Concerned with the looming power crisis that may lead to failure of elections, Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) guest senatorial bet Joey de Venecia III urged the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to revert back to manual counting “before it's too late.”

The young De Venecia issued the call as the government started tackling the power crisis head-on and two of the country's biggest telecommunications companies, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) and Globe Telecom, had expressed apprehension in hosting the main election data center for fear of attacks. The main data center will transmit the election results from precincts to the Comelec headquarters.

De Venecia, the son of former House Speaker Jose De Venecia Jr., expressed strong doubts that the Comelec can guarantee a glitch-free election, raising the odds against the success of the country's first automated elections on May 10, 2010.

“The failure of the automated May elections is not only possible, but highly probable,” said the younger De Venecia, an information technology and business businessman who earlier revealed that “the automation of the polls was not going well.”

De Venecia, who testified against the government in the Senate investigation on the NBN-ZTE deal controversy, has been pushing for automated polls only in Metro Manila, Metro Cebu, and Metro Davao, with the rest of the country holding manual voting.

“The risks of failure are too great. The trial runs that the Comelec have undertaken in the last few weeks revealed numerous glitches.  Despite their best efforts, the commission simply isn't prepared for an undertaking of this magnitude,” he said.

Earlier, the country's biggest courier service owned by the Aboitizes backed out of plans to deliver the voting machines to the precincts nationwide, piling up problems that will hinder a smoother conduct of the automated elections.

In Makati, Mayor Jejomar C. Binay, PMP vice presidential bet, ordered the inspection and repair of electrical circuitry of the 10 high schools and 28 elementary schools in his jurisdiction while urging the government to do the same so buildings could be ready for both polls and opening of classes in early June.

Binay directed City Engineer Nelson Morales to immediately begin the inspection of the city’s 10 high schools and 28 elementary schools to prepare these building for the election of the leaders and for the education of children.

As this developed, the joint congressional power commission meets on Monday to discuss the impending power shortage.

The congressional meeting was decided after Sen. Gregorio B. Honasan II, chairman of the Senate energy committee, and his House of Representatives counterpart, Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel ‘’Mikee’’ Arroyo, agreed that they convene their commission and meet at the Senate building on Monday to discuss ways of meeting head-on the impending power crisis.

With or without a quorum, the power commission would meet, Honasan and Arroyo said as the House of Representatives was expected to assess the power sector’s capability to provide power this summer.

Two major power sources in Northern Luzon were reported on the brink of shutting down because of the worsening effect of the prolonged dry spell which could result in rotating power outages.

Senator Rodolfo G. Biazon, chairman of the Senate national defense and security committee, told Senate reporters that past Senate hearings on the power sectors have shown that ‘’we have a very thin (power) reserve.’’

The Department of Energy (DoE), meanwhile, has detailed its blueprint in tackling the power crisis currently hounding Visayas and Mindanao after “resolving” the energy situation in Luzon on Tuesday.

Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes admitted that formulating and executing long-term solutions to the electricity-generating problems down south would require “big expenses” on the part of the government.

“It’s a huge investment,” said the official, who kicked off a whirlwind working tour of key areas in Visayas and Mindanao last Wednesday.

Reyes said he planned to convene with local power generators and distributors in Zamboanga Wednesday. Aside from the DoE, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) and the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) would also take part in the meeting.

Other participating agencies include the National Electrification Administration (NEA), Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM), National Power Corporation (NPC), Philippine Electricity Marketing Corporation (PEMC) and the National Transmission Corporation (Transco).

This Thursday, February 18, the energy secretary will fly to Davao for the same purpose and again on February 22, when Reyes is in Iloilo and on the 23rd, in Cebu.

As a measure against rotating brownouts in the Visayas, Cebu Energy Development Corporation (CEDC) has constructed three new 82-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plants, the first of which will become online next month. The two remaining units totaling 164 MWs in capacity will be operational before year’s end, Reyes said.

Another measure in place for Cebu is the 200-MW KEPCO-Salcon power plant located in Naga City. These power plants will augment the power supply in the Cebu-Negros-Panay (CNP) grid.

As government agencies started addressing the power problem, President Arroyo said the country’s energy situation is “not worsening” but somehow improving as the government exhausts all measures to prevent massive supply shortfall, particularly in Mindanao.

The President has tried allaying concerns of the public about the reported dwindling power reserves in the country, saying Luzon has ample supply of electricity although Mindanao is enduring “capacity problems” which she claimed was related to the dry spell brought by El Niño phenomenon.

Mrs. Arroyo, speaking to reporters last Tuesday night while on a tour in Mindanao Agribusiness super region, said she asked Reyes to check the situation in Mindanao, including the status of power plants, this week. (With reports from Mario B. Casayuran, Ellson A. Quisnorio, Anna Lisa T. Villas, and Genalyn Kabiling)