By John Rey Saavedra | Philippine News Agency
The Visayan Electric Company, Inc. (VECO) said it has energized the city’s major lifeline areas to light up hospital zones and water pumping stations using 18 megawatts (MW) of power supply days after the major outages caused by Typhoon Odette.
In a statement on Monday, the firm said power is back in a portion of V. Rama Avenue and B. Rodriguez Street, where the regional hospital Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) is situated. The supply came from the Cebu Private Power Corporation (CPPC).
“We would like to emphasize that energization will prioritize hospitals, MCWD (Metro Cebu Water District) pumping stations, other vital institutions, or other loads cleared for energization. Energization of other areas will follow as soon as we get additional power from the grid,” the power distribution firm said.
The Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas (OPAV) said in a separate statement that continued coordination with the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) is ongoing in an effort to power up a mothballed power plant of Aboitiz Power Corp., a subsidiary of the CPPC.
It said that the power plant was given authority to resume operation following intervention by OPAV Secretary Michael Lloyd Dino.
Because of this, four power generator units started delivering power supply directly to VECO on Sunday morning.
“This enabled (Visayan Electric) to provide much electricity starting with priority areas such as hospitals, government facilities, and the (MCWD) pumping stations,” Dino said, adding that the CPPC is expecting more of its power generation units to operate in the next 24 hours, which could double the power output to 36 MW.
Due to limited supply, the initial power output will be sent to VSMMC as well as private hospitals such as Chong Hua Hospital, Perpetual Succour Hospital, MCWD and THE Cebu provincial capitol.
Although major thoroughfares in this city are already cleared of debris, fallen trees, and utility poles, many of the power lines still need to be repaired.
In its restoration update, VECO said 39 percent of transmission lines have been cleared, energizing only 19 percent of its service areas so far.
It also said that 100 percent of medium voltage substations are cleared which has energized almost 29 percent of the coverage area while 27 percent of primary distribution lines are cleared, energizing 6 percent of the areas covered.
Fuel woes
On Monday, Mayor Michael Rama inspected gasoline stations where long queues of vehicles caused heavy traffic not only in this city but also in other localities in Metro Cebu.
While visiting a pump station in Barangay Talamban, Rama said he chanced upon a mini-truck loaded with containers being pumped with gasoline intended for sale at a high price.
In Minglanilla town, only three of five big gas stations continue pumping fuel to motorists. However, gas station supervisors admitted they could hardly detect which of the customers are lining up for their own consumption and which are buying gasoline and diesel for reselling at higher prices.
Francis Plarisan, a resident of Pakigne, Minglanilla, said he was able to buy gasoline for his motorcycle in a hinterland area for P130 per liter, which is P76 higher than the prevailing pump price.
“If dili ko mopalit, asa man ko og itubil sa akong motor? Kung molinya ko og 6 o’clock sa buntag, wa pa nay seguro kun matubilan ko inig alas 6 sa hapon. Grabe ang antos. So palit nalang ko sa tag-P130 ang litro kay sa dili makadagan atong motor (If I won’t buy, where would I get for my motorcycle? If I begin joining the queue at 6 a.m., there is no assurance that my motorcycle could get a gas up at 6 p.m. of the same day. It’s a big sacrifice. So, I paid for the P130 per liter to power my motorcycle), Plarisan told the Philippine News Agency in an interview.
According to OPAV, the concern on the inability of some gas stations to operate was due to a lack of power generator sets.
However, it said the Department of Energy – Visayas field office assured that Cebu would have enough supply of fuel which is good for the next 16 days.
Preemptive evacuations praised
Meanwhile, Governor Gwendolyn Garcia said in a presser that preemptive evacuations conducted by the municipalities have prevented the massive loss of lives and injuries during the onslaught of Typhoon Odette.
She cited the efforts of the municipal government of Ronda, south of Cebu province, that resulted in zero casualties reported as of Sunday, while the rest of the affected towns saw a few deaths due to the typhoon.
Garcia said the preemptive evacuations implemented by the local government units before the typhoon made landfall in Cebu last Thursday night cushioned the impact of “Odette” on the communities.
In her ocular visit to the southern towns of the province to distribute cash aid on Sunday, the governor commended the mayors for their proactive measures, including their effort in bringing residents to safer areas such as covered courts and schools. (PNA) -rir
