INQUIRER Sports

GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Philippines?(UPDATE) Even Mindanao?s power outages were no match to "Pacman power"?even if only in this city.

The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) has pledged to spare the city from the rotational brownouts that have been plaguing Mindanao to allow Manny Pacquiao's fans to watch his bout with Josuah Clottey on Sunday.

But people in other parts of Mindanao might not be able to watch it live, except in establishments equipped with their own power generators.

Avel Manansala, media liaison officer of General Santos Mayor Pedro Acharon, said the NGCP made an assurance on Friday that there would be no brownouts here on Sunday.

Manansala said this prompted Acharon to reconsider an earlier decision to scrap the live showing of the Pacquiao-Clottey showdown at the 6,000-seat General Santos City Gymnasium in Barangay Lagao here.

"The assurance from the NGCP that there would be no brownout made the city mayor change his mind," Manansala said.

He said to regulate the number of people inside the gym, the city government gave out tickets to officials of the city's 26 villages, who will distribute them to residents on a first-come-first-served basis.

The earlier announcement of the scrapping of the live showing had disappointed a lot of residents, who could not afford the tickets at pay-per-view venues.

Dionito Galagaran, one of those who decided to watch the fight at the KCC Mall Cinema, which charges P150 to P200 per head, said the city government's decision to push through with the live airing was very much welcome.

In Sarangani province, where Pacquiao is seeking a congressional seat, the live airing of his first defense of his International Boxing Organization welterweight title will push through.

Minvelez Gulle, Pacquiao?s legal counsel here, said power generators would be installed in Kiamba ang Alabel to deal with any power interruption.

Gulle said admission would be free during the live showing at the municipal gymnasiums of Kiamba and Alabel towns.

While General Santos City would be spared from the power outages, the National Power Corp. (Napocor) and the NGCP said they were not certain electricity would be available in other parts of Mindanao during the Pacquiao-Clottey match.

Pedro Ambos, Napocor operations manager in Lanao del Norte, said it was up to electric cooperatives and power utilities to continue supplying electricity to their consumers.

Elizabeth Ladaga, NGCP corporate communications specialist, said what people should hope for is for the hydropower plants to continue churning out electricity on Sunday and for electricity demand to stay low.

The Napocor had said it might be forced to shut down more power plants as the water level in Lake Lanao had gone down 698.9 meters on Saturday.

In Cotabato City, Reynaldo Trasmontero said that because of the uncertainty of the power situation he bought airline tickets to Cebu so that he could watch the fight on the big screen there.

He said he could not afford to miss the fight, even if it meant spending more.

"I have witnessed all previous world fights of Pacman; missing his fight with Clottey is the last thing I could think of," Transmontero said.

Veterinarian Robert Malcontento on the other hand said he was planning to go to Davao or General Santos City to watch the fight.

"If I have my way, there should be uninterrupted power supply during the scheduled fight," Malcontento said.

He said he was not willing to wait for the delayed telecast to watch the fight so he was going wherever power is uninterrupted.

Cresente Ferolino, resident manager of the Cotabato Light and Power Company, urged residents to cooperate to bring down the electricity demand in the city.

He said this could lead to uninterrupted power supply.

"We need cooperation on Sunday so power demand will not increase and create shortage," Ferolino said.

He said residents could refrain from using washing machines or turn off air-conditioning units.

"Forego ironing and electric pressing of clothes, shut off unnecessary lights, etc? so all of us can watch the fight," Ferolino said.

Cotabato City Mayor Muslimin Sema said boxing fans who have no cable connections can watch the fight at the City plaza for free.

"This is our little contribution to our people; let's all enjoy the fight," Sema said in a statement.

Reports from Aquiles Zonio, Richel Umel and Edwin Fernandez, Inquirer Mindanao