What If the Philippines Goes Dark? Blackout, No Water, No Internet

Episode 24

In this video, we explore a ‘what if’ scenario that could transform life in the Philippines overnight: a world without electricity, water, and internet.

From survival strategies to real experiences in preparedness, we share insights on how people might cope if the entire nation suddenly went dark. Are Filipinos equipped to face such a challenge—or would we be forced back into a stone age unprepared?

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Philippe:  What if internet, electricity, water?  What if we have that shutdown back to Stone Age?

Mclaine: May mga groups and certain individuals na they’re already prepared for this.

Background:  Importante ang pagiging handa at ang kahandaan, mainam na simulan sa inyong mga tahanan.

Philippe:  First aid, power source, communications, water, food.  

There’s one thing siguro alam mo na maybe you know but hindi mo nabanggit pero babanggit ko right now. Napapanood lang natin to in the movies but I think it’s good to know.

What if, what if, yun to ah, we have a major blackout in the country. When I say blackout, I mean no internet, no electricity, no water.

Philippe: The necessities of life they say. So, internet, electricity, water. 

 What if we have that shutdown back to Stone Age? What would you do?

Mclaine: Well, there are, may mga groups and certain individuals na they’re already prepared for this. 

No internet, sari naman tayo.

Philippe:  Ikaw? 

Mclaine: Lalo na yun.

Philippe:  Ikaw, okay, number one. Anong, what would your advice to invest in the first thing?  

Ikaw, alam mo to.

Mclaine:  Okay, sa amin, since may specific group, ako or kabi and ako, parang medyo prepared.  

I invest in two-way radios.

Philippe:  Analog?

Mclaine:  Analog, as much as possible.  

And then, mayroong mga preppers na nag-suggest na you need to have a Faraday cage.

Philippe:  What’s a Faraday cage?

Mclaine: Parang, you know EMP, di ba?  Pag nagkaroon ng EMP, lahat ng electronics, hag dinaanay.

Philippe: Bagsak, shut down.

Mclaine:  Analog, whatever, anything na may circuits. Yung Faraday cage, dun will lalagay lahat ng electronics devices mo. Pwede ka daw mag-DIY.

Philippe: Where can we buy this? Meron ba sa market?

Mclaine: Meron sa market.  Merong DIY instruction.  Meron din sa Shopee na Faraday.

Philippe: So ano ba siyang box?  Box lang siyang container?

Mclaine: Parang made out of parang aluminum foil.  Tapos sealed siya.  Hindi siya papasukin ng, technically airtight.

Pero kasi parang meron naman siyang fold na instruction po. Pero kailangan, nandun siya. Pwede siyang box. That’s a container. Lalagyan mo siya ng aluminum foil.  O certain material.

Philippe:  So what would you put there? Batteries? Batteries? Equipment?

Mclaine: Yes. Batteries. Any equipment, electronic equipment na meron ka. Na ayaw mong ma-damage.  Kasi kahit sabihin natin, cellphone. Kung wala ka namang signal, magagamit mo pa rin niya. 

Kasi for storage. To keep ng mga important documents mo. Kasi kung digital yung trabaho mo. Kung nasira yung laptop, tapos ka na.

Philippe: Or information. Kasi we could put emergency notes. Where to go, what to do.

Mclaine:  Sabi nila, two-way radio daw. Mada-damage pa rin yun ng EMP.  

Hindi naman uso ang EMP dito sa atin.

Philippe: Can you describe, what is an EMP? For our viewers.

Mclaine: Electromagnetic pulse.

Philippe:  And what does it do? And what does it do?

Mclaine: Yan yung nag-shutdown ng any electronic devices.

Philippe: So it burns the circuits of any electronic device. Hindi kagana koche, hindi kagana anything with circuits.

Mclaine: Anything with electronics.

Philippe:  E yung mga, for example, mga mahal din na reloads na ganyan. Na ano lang, hindi madadama yan. Kasi ano yan, motion?

Mclaine: Yung mechanical, hindi.  Masa anything with electronics device.  Or parts, bits of parts.

Philippe: Safe pala yung relos mo.

Mclaine: Pero it’s better na ilagay mo pa rin.  So anything important

Mark: para hindi masira.

Philippe: That’s a good one.  What do you call it?  Faraday cage. 

Faraday cage.  So we need to build one.

Mclaine: Everyone should have.  At least para ano.

Phippe: Pero no one would know na may parating na EMP.

Mclaine: Actually yun, napapanood lang naman natin sa TV yun eh.  Pero meron mga Pilipino preppers. There’s a certain group na they’re already prepared for that.

So meron silang Faraday cage. Tapos yung mga important…

Philippe: Siguro mga solar panels din dapat…

Mclaine: Yes, so yun.  Two-way radios for communication. Since ngayon gumagana pa ang network. Ngayon kasi nauuso ang POC.  Push to talk over cellular.

Philippe: Which is SIM cards?

Mclaine:  It runs through SIM card. Mas malayo kasi nararating niya unlike ng two-way radio na analog. Sa ngayon, since good pang network natin, it’s very advisable na meron ka.

Kasi unlike nang meron ka two-way radio, short distance lang talaga sya.  One, five, three kilometers. Lalo pa din sa cities.

Mclaine: Good luck sa’yo kung makaabot ka pa ng three kilometers. So yung POC, in case of emergency, sabi nila maraming nagdi-discourage ng yung mga internet radio na gano’n. 

Kasi sabi nila, eh parang pag nagdown ng network, ang pagdown naman ng network, hindi ako expert na pero on my understanding, pag nagdown naman ng network, hindi naman yan mula buong Pilipinas down.

Philippe: Certain parts lang.

Mclaine: Certain parts lang. There are certain cell sites na talaga mag-crash.

Philippe: May mga repeaters na…

Mclaine: Yes, pero pag nag-crash yung cell site mo, automatically re-direct yung signal mo doon sa ibang area. Ang mong iyayari nga lang, magkakaroon ng congestion.  So mabagal yung network.

So parang katulad nung pag nagkaroon ng… Dati, uso yung text eh. Ay, hindi ako mukha send ang text. Kasi daming nagti-text. That was na tayo na uso-uso yung text.

Philippe: Tangtanda na natin.

Mclaine: Nalaman tuloy. So yan. So communication, so yun yung isa sa… 

dapat iprepare. Tapos yun nga, solar panels, dapat meron ka.  At least yung mga maliliit.

Mclaine: Ngayon, uso-uso, napakadami sa Shopee.  For as low as P500, meron kang foldable solar panel na 10 watts.  10 watts is enough for to charge your phone. 

Kasi for the whole day, kung wala ka naman signal, pero kung muna siya charge ka, phone, even the two-way radios, in-upgrade na nila before it was docking charge. Ngayon, type C na.  So lahat ngayon ng gadget, in-upgrade na nila.

Philippe: So mabilis na, mabilis na yung charging.

Mclaine: So you have power bank. So yan, yan ang kailangan mo.

Philippe:  So we have communications, and we have energy.

Mclaine:  Power bank, power source.

Philippe: So power source. So communications, power source.

Mclaine: Panels.

Philippe: Ano next?

Mclaine: Emergency med kit.

Philippe:  First aid.

Mclaine: First aid kit.

Philippe:  What else?

Mclaine: Si water.

Philippe: Water, number one.

Mclaine:  Ako sinasanay ko yung katawan ko na mag-drink ng tap water. Kahit sa mga puso-puso. Bakit? Kasi pag nagkaroon ng the big one, huwag naman masahan na mangyari. 

Hindi ka naman aasas ng mineral water. Wala na mag-deliver sa’yo ng mineral water. So you need to rely on kung ano yung water.

Philippe: But there’s also filtration systems.  Hindi naman for mass production, pero may filtration systems.

Mclaine: May nabito din kayo ng portable. Pero what if mag-cease? Mapuno na siya, or hindi na siya gumana?

Philippe:  Yung mga filters kaya palitan, wala na.

Mclaine: So kailangan. Ako, ang ginagawa ko, even yung anak ko, sinasanay ko siya sa mag-drink ng tap water para mag-adjust yung katawan.  Sa ibang tao, magre-react kayo, sasakit yung mura.

Mclaine:  Kung sanay lang talaga sa mineral water or distilled water or whatever. Purified water. So dapat maging aware din sila. Dapat mag-adjust din yung katawan natin. 

Every now and then lang. Hindi naman lagi kang mag-ano. Sa akin yun, it’s just my point of view. Para lang din na hindi mahirapan.

Philippe: That’s a good tip. If you need to move out, how are you going to bring it?

Mclaine:  Paano kung anlaki pala yung filtration system mo? Tapos, meron pang isa.  Yung made out of sand. Yung mga… 

Ito yung mga sinabuhan na DIY.  Sand, stones, tapos charcoal, tapos cloth. Pwede kang gumawa. Sinabi nga nila, kahit small na bottle ng soda, lagay ka lang ng cloth, and then soil, rock, and then especially importante yung charcoal. 

Yung charcoal kasi nag-absorb yung mga odor and chemicals. So yun, magandang preparation.

Philippe: So, what are your preparations for ganyan? Kanyang lasing scenario? 

Mark:  Actually, sinabi niya na lahat.  I’ve learned from what he said.

Philippe: Well, one thing that he didn’t mention are yung first aid, power source, communications, water, food.  Ano yung food choices mo when it comes to that?

Mclaine: Food choice ko kasi…

Mark: Mga instant na yan.

Mclaine: Aside kung meron ka, and then yung dapat marunong kang meron kang…Sa amin kasi tatanim-tanim ka yung gulay-gulay na pwede edible na…

Mark: Actually, naka-encounter ako yung mga nagdi-dehydrate na pagkain.

Philippe: Yun pwede kasi add water lang and then it’s good. Ang tanong kasi yung longevity of the food, kasi especially back in the World War I or World War II, canned food. Canned food can…

Okay, preservatives and all, but shelf life niya, up to two years. For sure by that time, two years, pwede ka na magtanim by that time.

Philippe: So mag-compensate lang.  Pero as of now, yung sa amin naman, we have food snacks, instant whatever, packs, but we also have canned. Lalo yung for example yung canned tuna.

At least yun, higher protein.  Nakakabuso. And then we always have rice. We always have rice. Kasi yan yung pagkain natin. But also anything snacks that could last for at least two years.

Philippe: Liquids stick to water lang. I think stick to water is fine.  But that’s a good tip na dapat from time to time magano ka ng tap water. I think that’s important. Hindi naman lagi everyday, pero from time to time lang.

Mark: Just to adjust yung system.

Philippe: Para vaccine, onte-onte.  Para ma-adjust yung katawan, hindi yung isang biglaan. That’s what we do in our case. We have a lot of canned foods. Tapos hindi namin ini-stock sa budega. What we do is month by month, rotate namin.

Kung may bagong part na gross, dun sila.  Ito yung gagamitin namin.

Mark: First in, first out. 

Philippe: Always. There’s one thing. Siguro alam mo na, maybe you know, but hindi mo na banggit. Pero babangkitin ko right now. Antibiotics. Especially, very, very, very important.  Wala kami yung budega of medicines.  

We have enough medicines that would last for at least two to three months. Kasi you never know. Number one is yung wala kang medic. May first aid, pero wala kang medicine. 

Philippe: The problem is with first aid, yun nga, first aid, that’s your first step kung may cuts ka. Number one, kailangan ko infection.  If something happens, I might infect. Dun ang annoying.

Yan yung number one cause of death in disasters, in war. Walang antibiotics.  So it doesn’t matter. Antibiotics pang bata, pang adults. Importante pang antibiotics.  But, I think it’s also good to invest in natural remedies.

Philippe: Also, be educated enough about plants, leaves. Kasi they act as antibiotics as well. But not as strong as the chemicals, but they act as antibiotics as well.

So yun, mga painkillers, meron naman, but not so much.  Kasi pag nasani ka na sa painkillers, na-immune ka.  But, number one, I think antibiotics.  After first aid, kids.

Mark: Diatabs

Philippe: Diatabs kasi yung tubig mo, tap water na.

Mclaine:  Alternate for diet hubs is, ang structure naman ng diet hubs is made out of charcoal. Kailangan maging, merong alternative doon eh.  They call it activated water. 

What we do in the province of Bulacan, may nagturo sa akin na taga far north, yung bao, susunugin siya.  Not to the fact na sunug na sunug siya. I-burn mo lang siya para maging uling lang.

Mclaine: Enough na maging uling. And then ibababal mo siya doon sa tubig mo.  At first, iba yung lasa.

Mclaine: Parang ano, pag tinik mo naman yung diet hubs, may lasa sa’yo.  Aftertaste.  Almost the same siya. Same din yung aftertaste na. 

Pero iba dito, since ito natural, parang malalasaan mo pa yung may sunug nung bao, pero it really works for yung mga sisirachan, LBM.

Philippe: I think there’s a lot of, this whole thing can be one episode of prep. We should invite a prep expert.  Meron ba sa civic group mo mga experts for that?

Mclaine: Meron ako isang kakilala na prepper siya.

Philippe: Let’s invite him to this podcast.  We could learn a lot.  But I think that’s basics. I think we discussed all of the four things that could happen or the four or the five.  At least people could be educated na dapat well prepared ka kahit next year, or summer, tagulan, alam nyo na.  

Pag alam nyo may bagyo, malasang bagyo, malis na kayo. Yes, not everyone has the capability of moving out.  But at least be prepared. If you need to leave your home, wag mo na dalin yung TV, dalin mo lang yung importante, like your family members.

Philippe:  Pumunta na kayo to your nearest LGU, where the what do you call this? Evacuation centers.  Doon kayo tumamay. Wag nyo na dalin yung TV nyo at yung components nyo at yung mga bange na hindi importante. Okay, malaking investment. Don’t do that.

Philippe: Dalin mo lang yung ano naman yung washing machine? Anak po.

Mark: It’s a good thing that we discussed this today kasi nga maybe it’s not as comprehensive education as it should be.

Mark:  But this topic, just a reminder na kapag dumating yun, at least meron tayong preparation na ginagawa.  

At malaking tulong yun para makasalba tayo ng ating buhay at mga halagang bagay sa atin. 

That’s good.