Is ZAMBOANGA CITY blogger friendly?

Last year, while I was pregnant I stayed in Zamboanga City for over 5 months and I have come to realize that although Zamboanga is trying to cope with other cities there are still limitations to what we can offer. And what is the reason of that limitation? BLACKOUT!

A lot of online job opportunities are now present for stay at home moms and while I was there I thought of applying for some to past time and also earn extra for the growing needs of my family and I was even considering to do it fulltime and not return to Manila anymore, after all according to the popular song "NO TE VAYAS DE ZAMBOANGA" right? But a threat to that dream is very apparent as the days pass by. Blackout was real and just like everyone else in Zamboanga, I am experiencing it first hand.

So the question is, Mi Ciudad de Zamboanga are you a blogger friendly city?

Life isn’t normal without electricity. Whether for home, school, hospital, commercial, or industrial

purposes, electricity is their common lifeblood. Cut it and there will be widespread darkness. Remove it and you will lose refrigeration to keep our food fresh and our drinks cool. Deprive vital establishments like medical centers and they wouldn’t be able to give the life-giving care our ailing citizens need. This is the same for bloggers and freelancers or stay at home moms who work from home. Electricity is vital as if they have a scheduled skype meeting with clients or scheduled class if he/she is teaching online BLACKOUT means lost money, opportunity and livelihood that they cannot bring back.

The presence of electricity in a community signifies progress. Ironically, power outages have become

common in Zamboanga City. The absence of electricity causes disruption in our daily activities and

affects the city’s economy. Without electric lights, it would be difficult for us to read anything,

especially at night. While power generators augment for the lack of electricity, especially in business and tourist establishments, they can only do so much. By the way, not everyone can afford a power

generator.

With the intense summer heat scorching our beloved hometown, how can you expect us to keep our

heads cool when our electric fans are useless? Take note also that Zamboanga is one of the key cities in the Philippines closest to the equator – one of the hottest places on Earth.

The power outages stem from the Zamboanga City Electric Cooperative’s (ZAMCELCO) outstanding debts with Western Mindanao Power Corporation (WMPC).Following an investment management contract bidding, ZAMCELCO was recently brought into management under CROWN-DESCO Investment Holdings, Inc. After weeks of negotiations, CROWN-DESCO finally agreed to pay around half of ZAMCELCO’s Php467 million-debt to WMPC (around Php220million). This restored power to the city for the next 60 days beginning last April 29.

“We are glad to restore power and normalcy to Zamboanga City,” WMPC and Alsons Power Group vice president for business development Joseph Nocos previously said.

Now that power has been restored in the city, we all are hoping that this would truly last. We, therefore, ask CROWN-DESCO to make good of its commitment to provide uninterrupted power by paying WMPC the remainder of its dues. This way, the power crisis in the city would truly come to an end and normalcy would ble to go bace restored in the city's electric supply. As a blogger hoping to be able to stay in my city and do many job without interruption i am hoping that finally ZAMBOANGA- is "PHILIPPINES BLACKOUT CAPITAL" no more.