Five AM to six PM without power. That's not an outage, that's a schedule, and it's what a friend of mine in Mindanao is living through right now.

In this first episode of Intawn Pod, I lay out what's actually happening with the rotational brownouts hitting the Visayas and Mindanao, why it's happening now, and why people who've lived through it are saying it hasn't been this bad since the energy crisis of the late eighties and early nineties.

I get into the jargon utility companies throw around without ever explaining it (what is a voluntary load curtailment, actually?), why your bill keeps climbing even when the power isn't there, the difference between fuel being available and fuel being affordable, and the disinformation riding on top of an already exhausting crisis.

But the part I care about most is this: who actually absorbs the cost of a crisis like this. Not the people who can afford a generator or solar panels. Not always the people who qualify for assistance. The middle, the ones taxed automatically every payday with no cushion when something like this hits.

This isn't a resilience pep talk. It's me talking through what's going on the way I would with a friend over a few beers, and what you can actually do that isn't just "stay strong."

If any of this hits close to home, I want to hear what it's like where you are.

00:00 — Why this podcast exists
00:14 — 5 AM to 6 PM: my friend's schedule in Mindanao
00:43 — My city's new 2.5 hour rotation
01:36 — What's actually happening on the ground
04:08 — Why this is happening now (the grid mechanics)
05:49 — Hasn't been this bad since the late 80s / early 90s
06:08 — Who's hit hardest: freelancers, VAs, small businesses
08:37 — The jargon problem (NGCP, red alert, VLC)
11:54 — Why the bills don't make sense
13:31 — Availability vs affordability, where our fuel comes from
15:34 — The disinformation crisis riding on top of the real one
18:27 — Who actually pays: the middle class squeeze
20:25 — Jeepney and bus drivers absorbing fuel costs
22:13 — The blame game, and where I land on it
24:01 — The solar farm claim (unverified, worth looking into)
26:36 — How people are already coping
27:56 — What you can actually do
29:39 — Closing thoughts

Thanks for listening. If any of this hit close to home, I want to hear it, drop a comment.

New episodes a few times a week, whenever there's something worth talking through.

Intawn Pod is an independent show. Views shared are personal takes, not the position of any organization.