MANILA, Philippines - A Malacañang official on Friday vowed there would no widespread power outage in Mindanao during the May 10 elections, which groups fear might lead to a failure of elections.

"Come election day, there will be extra capacity to make sure that a total brownout would be very, very unlikely," Press Secretary Gary Olivar told ABS-CBN's Umagang Kay Ganda.

Without mentioning where the additional capacity would come from, Olivar said that the assurance by the energy sector of extra power supply makes the scenario of total power outage in Mindanao even "less likely."

Mindanao Development Authority chairman Jesus Dureza told ANC on Thursday that some businessmen have proposed to lease mountable generators from China, which can be used until July this year when rains are expected to come.

Dureza, however, said that leasing the generators would drive up electricity prices since the additional power would be passed on to the entire grid. "We have to adjust to the reality of having power but paying a higher cost," he said.

On Thursday, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo placed the whole of Mindanao under a state of calamity to address the energy crisis in the south.

Olivar said the declaration of a state of calamity was necessary to address a "short-term, but very serous problem."

He said, however, that the declaration of a state of calamity does not include imposition of price controls. He said the declaration was very specific and it only allows local government units in Mindanao to release 5% of their budgets.

Mrs. Arroyo's spokesman admitted that the release of calamity funds comes with the possibility of abuse from local government officials who would handle their distributions.

He said that the national government would not have enough capacity to closely monitor the release of the calamity funds.

"It's up to the residents to make sure that the release would be appropriate. They should watch out for the possible abuses," Olivar said.

Mindanao has been experiencing 5- to 8-hour blackouts since late last year because the dry spell has lowered the capacity of hydro-electric power plants.

Officials said hydro-electric power plants in Mindanao are only producing a tenth of the usual 1,000 MW power generating capacity. 

A March 10 power systems update by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) said Mindanao has a shortage of 748 megawatts (MW), compared to a  slim 159-MW power shortage a month ago.