President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Monday, Sept. 26, ordered officials to restore power immediately in areas devastated by Super Typhoon “Karding”, citing the need for those affected by the typhoon to communicate and call for help.
In particular, the President, who just came from a six-day working trip to the United States, highlighted the need to restore power in the whole of Nueva Ecija and Aurora after Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla confirmed that the two provinces were still without power as of 7 a.m. on Monday.
Admitting that the assessment of the power network is “more complicated,” Marcos said that the first response should be “to send them (Nueva Ecija and Aurora) power.”
“Whatever the prospects are na babalik na ‘yung kuryente, eh ngayon walang kuryente kailangan nila ng (power needs to be restored, now that they don’t have power but power) people need to have some ano... So kahit papaano (at least) I guess that’s where we can concentrate,” he said during the situation briefing he presided at the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) in Camp Aguinaldo.
The President asked Defense Secretary Jose Faustino Jr. if there are standby generators that could be sent to the areas without power since residents and the disaster response teams would also need power.
He was also assured by Lotilla that 99 percent “and above of all the fuel stations have enough supply.”
READ: Marcos conducts aerial assessment on ‘Karding’-hit areas
“And speaking of fuel, sometimes we forget we send generators, we don’t send fuel. So make sure the generators have fuel. Ganoon lang naman kasimple ‘yun (It’s that simple),” Marcos told his Cabinet.
“So at least for the electricity side — wala (nothing), stopgap measure lang muna tayo (for now) and we’ll do the longer stuff as soon as we have more information and we know — we can make a plan,” he added.
Lotilla reported to the President that the main lines of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) are down in Nueva Ecija and Aurora.
Also party affected by the lack of power are the provinces of Tarlac, Zambales, Pampanga, and Quezon, the Energy chief said, though he expects more information to trickle in today especially “where the main transmission wires are down and also at the distribution level.”
He explained to Marcos that even if they could restore the main transmission lines, the distribution lines and the drop wires in different houses are still “vulnerable” or “will be difficult to restore.”
READ: Rapid damage assessment, HADR ops begin in ‘Karding’-hit areas
“The good news, Mr. President, is that the main generation plants which are in the path of the typhoon were spared and so we did not have any interruptions except for some problems that we encounter, especially in the hydros,” Lotilla added, referring to the blockade issue with the indigenous people (IP) in Casecnan, though Marcos was assured this was handled by the police and the military.
Super Typhoon Karding battered huge swaths of Luzon on Sunday, Sept. 25, as strong winds and heavy rains brought down the transmission lines and distribution lines.
Based on the latest advisories of the Department of Energy (DOE), NGCP, Manila Electric Company (Meralco) as of 6 a.m. on Monday, some 51,773 Meralco customers don’t have power in Bulacan, Rizal, and Marikina City.
Some 1,226,867 of its customers across the franchise area were also affected by power interruptions.
Electric cooperatives in Central Luzon—Aurora Electric Cooperative (AURELCO), Tarlac I Electric Cooperative (TARELCO I), Nueva Ecija I Electric Cooperative (NEECO I), NEECO II A1, NEECO II A2, and San Jose Electric Cooperative (SAJELCO)—suffered total power interruption.