By JED MACAPAGAL and MYLA IGLESIAS
Power supply is yet to be fully restored but telecommunication services are almost back to normal in areas affected by Typhoon Odette nearly three weeks since its landfall.
The National Electrification Administration (NEA) power in one electric cooperative (EC) in Bohol is yet to be back up. Residents and establishments in 22 other ECs in Palawan, Negros, Antique, Guimaras, Bohol, Cebu, Camote Island, Siquijor, Leyte, Camiguin, Misamis Oriental, Surigao, Agusan, Dinagat Island and Siargao still experience partial power interruption.
These interruptions affect 3.7 million households.
NEA added the 30 ECs that submitted reports recorded damage of P2.61 billion.
In an online briefing yesterday, Energy Undersecretary Felix William Fuentebella said additional assessments are needed to finalize the dates of the full restoration targets of these ECs.
“There are still equipment and people on the ground… There is also sharing of manpower as well as transformers and poles to speed up restoration efforts,” Fuentebella added.
The National Power Corp. (NPC) said that as of yesterday, from 72 out of the 87 affected power plants in off-grid areas under its Small Power Utilities Group (SPUG) are fully operational.
NPC said that seven SPUG plants in Palawan, Bohol, Southern Leyte, Dinagat Islands and Surigao del Norte are on standby while eight more off-grid power plants from Palawan and Bohol are still undergoing assessment and restoration.
Meanwhile, PLDT Inc. and Globe Telecom Inc. have completed restoration of their network services in more cities in Visayas and Mindanao affected by Typhoon Odette.
In a statement, PLDT said it has reestablished network coverage in over 98 percent of Bacolod, bringing restoration of network services to over 90 percent of Visayas cities and municipalities affected by Super Typhoon Odette.
Earlier, the group had reported the full restoration of Antique, Iloilo, Eastern Samar, Northern Samar and Western Samar.
In Mindanao, PLDT said it has restored 98 percent of wireless services and 99 percent of fixed services. Coverage includes Dinagat Islands and Siargao–two of the badly-hit areas in the region.
In Palawan, 83 percent of wireless services and 90 percent of fixed services have been restored.
PLDT and Smart technical teams are working hard to reconnect the rest of the storm-hit communities, amid commercial power interruptions and clearing operations that may affect service delivery.
Globe Telecom said it has restored network services in more towns in Bohol, Cebu and Leyte bringing Visayas closer to completion. The municipalities of Anda, Dauis, Loon and Panglao in Bohol, San Fernando in Cebu, and Baybay, Albuera in Leyte, and Limasawa in Southern Leyte have completed repairs.
In Mindanao, Globe’s network services have also been restored in Tagana-an, Surigao del Norte.
Globe equipped local government units (LGUs) in areas hit by Typhoon Odette with the M360 platform, providing a one-time package with free SMS blast services for 30 days.
With this service, LGUs are able to immediately send important updates to their offices and constituencies via text message .
Palawan, Southern Leyte, and Cebu municipalities Naga, Cordova and the city of Mandaue, were among the first to avail of this free service.
