THIS is the time of the year when the heat rises all over the country and many areas run short of electric power and water. We are now at the height of the summer season and the rains are not due until the last week of this month or in the first week of June.
The highest heat index in the country was recorded at 53 degrees Celcius in Butuan City, Agusan del Norte, last Wednesday, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA). Closer to Metro Manila, the heat index reached 42 degrees at Sangley Point in Cavite last Thursday. It was 41.5 degrees at the Science Garden in Quezon City, 41.2 degrees at the Port Area in Manila and at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Pasay City.
As in past years, power consumption rose as households turned on airconditioning units and electric fans. This year, there is the additional factor of Metro Manila’s residents forced to stay at home because of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) lockdown due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
This has resulted in increased power consumption, Meralco public information spokesman Joe Zaldarriaga said, and power interruptions have begun in some areas. The heat and the lockdown are beginning to stretch Meralco’s facilities to unprecedented levels, he said.
Last year, the summer heat caused Manila Water, the water concessionaire for the east section of Metro Manila, to start rationing water as the water level at Angat Dam fell. A sharp reaction from President Duterte prompted the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System and Manila Water to find a way to quickly end the water rationing.
The water supply problem at the height of the summer season has not come up this year and we hope it will stay that way. It is the electric power supply that threatens us this year because of the ECQ lockdown that has forced Metro Manilans to stay home in the summer heat and turn on their air-con units and electric fans for longer periods than usual.
We hope for an early rainy season this year – around the last week of this month. We look forward to the rains – they would be truly showers of blessing that will signal the start of the planting season in the country’s farms, raise the water level of Angat Dam to ensure adequate water for Metro Manila, and ease the problem of high electric power consumption because of the ongoing ECQ lockdown.
