3 MORE WEEKS BEFORE FULL POWER / NAIA POWER BACK, NO AIR CON
MANILA, OCTOBER 2, 2006 (STAR) By Donnabelle Gatdula And James Mananghaya - Power agencies estimate that full restoration of electricity in areas devastated by typhoon "Milenyo" will take three more weeks, Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla said yesterday.Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) president Jesus Francisco assured the public that full power service would be restored in the entire Metro Manila by tomorrow or even earlier. The utility firm said that as of 1 p.m. yesterday, repair crews had restored 82 percent of distribution circuits.
In a joint press briefing conducted by officials of the Department of Energy, National Transmission Corp. (TransCo), National Power Corp. (Napocor), National Electrification Administration (NEA) and Meralco, Lotilla said that based on initial estimates, the last crucial leg of restoration of power would be in the worst-affected areas in the Bicol Region, which is expected to be completed by Oct. 18.
"It is really very difficult to predict, but we are targeting to normalize the supply of power in Metro Manila by Tuesday," Lotilla said.
Francisco said Meralco is coordinating with the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) to speed up the restoration of power in major thoroughfares — including road intersections — so traffic flow will not be affected.
Francisco and Lotilla both assured the people that the cost of damage to facilities would not be passed on to or shouldered by consumers.
President Arroyo called on the nation to unite and asked citizens to do their share in efforts to repair widespread damaged left by the storm.
"I call for national unity and cooperation in the national effort to recover from the calamity," Mrs. Arroyo said after inspecting the extent of damage in Sorsogon Saturday afternoon.
She visited Barangay Talisay in Sorsogon City where 284 families were rendered homeless by the typhoon. Mrs. Arroyo assured the victims that the government will help them rebuild their houses.
The President later went to the wake of couple Ernesto and Rosalie Lagat who drowned at the height of the storm, and condoled with the couple’s six orphans who were also injured. She ordered local health officials to bring the children to the hospital.
Milenyo left 12 people dead in Sorsogon, including a 12-year-old boy who was pinned by galvanized metal sheets blown off the roof of a building.
Office of Civil Defense officials have raised to 76 the number of those killed by typhoon Milenyo, while 81 were injured and 69 others remained missing. The OCD said the deaths were caused by drowning, electrocution or by falling debris and trees.
The OCD also placed the damage at P1.2 billion in Metro Manila, Central Luzon, Southern Tagalog, the Bicol Region and Eastern Visayas that were smashed by Milenyo, the strongest typhoon to hit Metro Manila since Typhoon "Rosing" in November 1995.
OCD reported that the victims include the 14 people who died in Barangay Bagong Silang in Los Baños, Laguna after a section of Mt. Makiling collapsed and buried several nearby houses.
Five children drowned when their house was swept by the swollen Pasig River in Barangay Sta. Ana in Taytay, Rizal.
Anthony Golez, OCD administrator, said 42 were killed in Southern Tagalog, 16 in Bicol, eight in Metro Manila, five in Westen Visayas, three in Eastern Visayas, and one each in Central Luzon and Central Visayas.
The United States government said yesterday it was making available $100,000 to help in the relief effort to buy blankets, mosquito nets, sleeping mats and water containers.
The President had ordered relief agencies to speed up operations to restore power and the search for those still missing. Millions sans power, water Three days after the powerful storm hit the country, millions of people were still without electricity or clean water around Metro Manila and the Bicol Region.
Meralco, so far, has estimated damage to its facilities to reach P500,000. The power agency has a mechanism that allows it to set aside provisions for special cases such as disasters.
Lotilla said they are in the process of determining the total cost of damage to the power facilities which will be charged to the government’s calamity fund or to the insurance claims of TransCo.
Major damage was recorded on the transmission lines of TransCo. from the Bacon-Manito geothermal power plant in Sorsogon.
Outside the Meralco franchise area, NEA administrator Editha Bueno said they are ready to deploy special task forces to oversee the power restoration in Central Visayas.
She said the members of the task forces are volunteers who will also help restore power in Bicol.
Meralco said the clearing and restoration efforts were hampered by the collapse of giant billboards, fallen trees and pilferage of electric wires. As of 1 p. m. yesterday, 570 electric poles of the 600,000 Meralco poles were confirmed to have been damaged.
Officials appealed anew to LGUs and the local police to help prevent the theft of wires from toppled electric towers following the discovery that some 100 meters of transmission line cable were stolen yesterday afternoon from a toppled tower in Ternate, Cavite.
Lotilla said the government is studying the plan to regulate billboards that pose a hazard to motorists, infrastructure and power transmission systems.
Lotilla said they are also studying the possibility of minimizing the number of "wires" in the system. Aside from power lines, there are also telecommunication and television cable wires hanging on the streets of Metro Manila.
He said they are coordinating with MMDA chairman Bayani Fernando on how to map out these new regulations.
Francisco said Meralco will coordinate with homeowners and local government units (LGUs) on the concern over the planting and pruning of trees.
Fallen trees, toppled transmission towers, collapsed billboards, downed electric posts and other debris continue to obstruct faster restoration of power in Metro Manila and other parts of Luzon.
Meanwhile, TransCo reported that as of 2 p.m. yesterday, power restoration in the Luzon grid was placed at 72 percent or equivalent to a load of 3,408 megawatts.
The agency expects to provide additional power to most of Cavite particularly Dasmariñas-Lakeview and Dasmariñas-Tagaytay lines and the Dasmariñas-Ternate line.
On the other hand, the Dasmariñas-Rosario line which serves the towns of Rosario, General Trias, the export processing zone in Cavite, was the hardest hit by the typhoon in the area where some 57 poles were damaged and power is expected to be restored on Oct. 4.
In Quezon province and the Bicol Region, where some 40 steel towers were toppled or damaged by the typhoon, repairs are underway.
Electricity in Naga City and nearby towns has been restored after the transmission line linking the Tiwi Geothermal Plant of the Napocor and TransCo’s Naga substation was energized.
TransCo also expects to energize Daraga, Tabaco, and Legazpi City this evening with power coming from NPC’s Tiwi plant.
In Sorsogon, where more than 60 TransCo wooden poles were damaged, restoration work is expected to be completed by Oct. 18.
Meanwhile, the OCD said 1,163,692 persons have been affected by the typhoon in seven regions with 104,995 residents now sheltered in 198 evacuation centers in the affected areas of Eastern Visayas and Luzon.
OCD said damage to agriculture is estimated at P600 million.
Region 5 incurred most of the damage in infrastructure and agriculture with P521 million, followed by Region IV-A, P346.17 million; Region VIII, P164.23 million; Region IV-B, P73 million; Region III, P55.28 million, Region VI, P53.17 million, and Metro Manila, P17 million, the OCD said. — With Paolo Romero, Rainier Allan Ronda, AFP, AP
Power back at NAIA, but still no aircon By Rainier Allan Ronda The Philippine Star 10/02/2006
Partial power has been restored at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal I but the airconditioning units are not yet operating and the heat caused a Norwegian tourist to faint yesterday morning.
The Norwegian passenger, who was not immediately identified, was waiting for a departing KLM Royal Dutch Airlines flight to Amsterdam when he apparently suffered a heat stroke and fainted at around 8:45 a.m. at the crowded departure area.
Airport officials said the Norwegian was revived after drinking water that was provided by his companions. The tourist was able to board his flight for Amsterdam.
The Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) had already restored full power at the nearby Manila Domestic Airport and the NAIA Terminal II also known as the Centennial Airport that services both international and domestic flights of Philippine Airlines.
However, only partial power has been supplied to the NAIA I to operate the lights, computers, and escalators but power is not enough to run the airconditioning system.
All the foreign airliners operate at the NAIA I where thousands of Filipino and foreign passengers pass through.
Mounting complaints about the heat at Terminal I prompted officials of Dnata, a ground handling firm, to lend one of its mobile airconditioning units to the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA).
The borrowed mobile airconditioning unit, designed for emergency use in narrow-bodied Airbus jets, was not enough to lessen the heat at the vast airport departure area.
An MIAA official said when power supply was restored at 2:40 p.m. at Terminal I, Meralco engineers instructed the airport operations personnel not to immediately turn on the airconditioning system to avoid a power overload.
"We could only turn on the airconditioning units gradually. If we turn them on all at the same time, we might experience overloading and a probable blackout which is worse," an MIAA officer said.
NAIA Terminal I had only been using partial power and had remained without airconditioning since Thursday when a Luzon-wide power outage occurred in the aftermath of typhoon "Milenyo."
MIAA’s power generator supplier and operator, Powergen, had failed to provide sufficient power to operate all the electric equipment at the terminal, including chillers and air-conditioners.
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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