IT is 8 o'clock in the evening and I am sitting in a pitch black flat, waiting for an emergency generator hidden deep in the bowels of my condominium to light up a standby light bulb. Moments ago, when the power was cut, a screen of text on my computer disappeared forever.
If I'm lucky, I'll be able to switch my air-conditioner and other appliances back on in four or five hours, depending on when the electricity company finds enough power. Nine floors below on the streets of the showcase Makati business district, the daily roar of generators has started - sending clouds of ugly-black diesel smoke into the air.
As I begin to swelter, I contemplate where to escape the heat. The best places to cool off are hotels, movie theatres and Manila's California-style shopping centres. Welcome to a ''brownout'' - the uniquely Filipino term for what is known elsewhere as a blackout.
In the coffee shops and offices of Manila, the daily brownouts headline almost every discussion - with Filipinos debating whom to blame for the daily misery. Former president Corazon Aquino is the main culprit, failing to add one single kilowatt of electricity during her six-year term. ''Cory owes us an apology,'' wrote a Manila columnist.
Yesterday, we had an eight-hour power outage and on Sunday - a day when we are usually spared this horrible disruption - two outages. Because of ageing power plants conking out, not a day goes by when the main island of Luzon has uninterrupted power. The worst thing is that brownouts strike randomly, without warning, and at any time of day or night. In the Philippines, the joke goes like this: What did Filipinos use to light their homes before candles? The answer: electricity.
A local consumer writer said she has diagnosed a new disease associated with the power outages and unique to Manila residents: it is called ''blackoutisis''. Symptoms include diarrhoea (caused by spoiled food), asthma, pulmonary disease, food poisoning,broken limbs and unexpected pregnancies.
With a brownout comes untold misery. Computer screens go blank, traffic lights flicker off - causing huge traffic jams, elevators seize up, and refrigerators and air-conditioners stop working. Factories and offices become unbearable sweat shops. Cold showers have become the norm - so has dining out.
