Business Mirror - Occidental Mindoro folk hit rotating brownouts Jonathan Mayuga, March 10, 2015 Excerpts from an article published in the Business Mirror. Read more here: http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/occidental-mindoro-folk-hit-rotating-brownouts/ BFOM members are composed of concerned citizens of the town of San Jose who have been complaining of the adverse impact of the power crisis. They said that the power crisis in Mindoro is holding back the province from making its so-called economic takeoff as the rotating brownouts continue to hurt businesses, particularly the tourism sector. BFOM launched a Facebook page, wherein netizens expressed their dismay over the situation of the people in San Jose and the rest of Occidental Mindoro. “Tama nga na iparating sa media ang mga kabalbalan at pagpapahirap sa taong bayan ng San Jose at karatig-lugar. Tamaan sana ng kidlat [na] may 34,000 volts iyong mga may kagagawan ng pahirap na iyan,” posted Angelito Binoya of Unlad Occidental Mindoro Group. San Jose is the financial, educational, cultural and economic center of Occidental Mindoro. It is outrageous that we, as residents, have to endure hours-long power outages every day. It is a violation of our rights, BFOM said. BFOM blamed weak political leadership in Occidental Mindoro for the power crisis. Netizens, residents of San Jose and other towns affected by the rotating brownouts, blame the Occidental Mindoro Electric Cooperative and independent power producer Island Power Corp. (IPC), allegedly owned by former San Jose mayor Jose Villarosa, for forging a questionable deal that allowed the IPC, despite having lost the capacity to generate electricity for years, to block the entry of other independent power producers in the province.