The Mayweather-Pacquiao fight is coming. On Saturday night in Las Vegas, the two will square off in what is being billed as the “fight of the century.” Whether or not you believe it is, in fact, an all century-worthy bout, it certainly hasn’t lacked hype. In Manny Pacquiao’s native Philippines, as you might expect, interest is particularly high.
The Philippines, despite a growing economy, is still a poor country where millions lack access to electricity. A shaky power supply makes it hard for an entire country of nearly 100 million people to huddle around TVs all at once. So one forward-thinking civil servant in the western Philippines has made a public call of collective sacrifice for the greater good and asked the good people of the island province of Palawan to unplug their refrigerators during the fight to ensure the island of less than a million can squeeze out enough juice to root Pacquiao on.
Here’s more on the call to action from Agence France-Presse:
Rante Ramos, secretary of the electrical cooperative on the island of Palawan, posted the appeal on Facebook on Wednesday, saying that the area faced a power shortfall that might result in an outage on Sunday when the long-awaited fight airs in the Philippines. “Truth is, come May 3… Palawan grid would still be 2-megawatt short of power supply. Some circuits may inevitably be switched off,” he warned. “Collectively we can do something. On May 3, let’s all voluntarily switch off or disconnect as many appliances as we could,” he said, asking that about 15,000 homes switch off their refrigerators for a few hours. He also urged people not to use their washing machines, air-conditioners and irons until the fight is over.
