After relighting 35k houses in Tacloban, Palo: CEBECO teams restoring power in western Leyte

CEBU, Philippines - After restoring electricity in at least 35,000 houses in Tacloban City and Palo town over the past 11 days, the Task Force Kapatid CEBECO (Cebu Electric Cooperative) 1, 2 and 3 is now in Ormoc City to bring back power to thousands of houses in this city and in 11 towns of the western part of Leyte province.

The Task Force, consisting of 577 linemen and engineers headed by Father Francisco Silva and overall commander Boggie Tiu, general manager of CEBECO 2, arrived Ormoc at 11 a.m. on March 12 and had a motorcade around the city up to Albuera town.

Other key officials in the task force were Engr. Lowell Belciña, resident manager of CEBECO-Cebu City, Engr. Lhoi Crodua, assistant general manager of CEBECO 1, Virgilio Fortich, general manager of CEBECO 3, and Victor Chiong, consultant of CEBECO employees union.

The task force's mission: To fasttrack the restoration of power in Yolanda-hit areas in this part of Leyte, namely Ormoc City, and the 11 towns of Albuera, Calubian, Isabel, Kananga, Leyte, Matag-ob, Merida, Palompon, San Isidro, Tabango and Villaba.

The group, which earned the monicker Kidlat team, will be working side by side with the personnel of the Leyte Electric Cooperative (LEYECO) 5, which is serving consumers of at least 110,000 houses. Their target will be re-energize 90 percent of these houses by March 26.

The Kidlat team has boom trucks and various equipment needed in their mission, while LEYECO 5 provided materials support, such as conductors, wooden and steel poles.

The team was divided into three groups, based in Isabel and Calubian towns and Ormoc City, although the latter had only a few areas still without power. They started work yesterday.

LEYECO 5 had suffered an estimated P80 million in damages due to Yolanda. Its general manager Juanito Jorda told The Freeman that, as of March 12, only 180 out of 417 barangays in the coop's coverage areas have been re-energized, and 237 barangays will be the subject of the Kidlat-LEYECO 5 works, which started yesterday.

"I was so hopeless that, by this month, LEYECO 5 could energize the rest of the 110,000 houses in our coverage areas. But with the arrival of CEBECO teams, a miracle will surely come," said Jorda.

The Kidlat team, as it moved out of Tacloban, issued this statement: "We will be leaving. We came on a mission of love in response to the divine mandate to care and help one another as the early Christian communities did. We saw the massive devastation cruelly inflicted by Yolanda that also destroyed the economy, public and commercial buildings and houses of all sizes.

"We conquered the evil forces of darkness, side by side with the National Electrification Administration and LEYECO 2 partners by erecting poles, stringing power lines and lighting up the whole area of coverage. We now move on to Ormoc and the 11 towns under LEYECO 5. Our final message: We leave our hearts in Tacloban and Palo in appreciation of the total cooperation and support of our beloved Leyteños."

Residents of V & G Subdivision in Tacloban, the last area where the team worked, were thankful of Kidlat's fast restoration of power in their place.

Lope Fornillos told The Freeman they could not believed their houses will have power again in just a few days. "Thank you CEBECO teams and LEYECO 5 for the efforts. We have now new electric meters, free of charge," he said.

Another resident, who refused to be named, said: "Amazing character they have. I couldn't believe we have people with that kind of discipline and attitude."

Silva himself said: "So far this was the most organized group I have ever accompanied with. It's an innate character among Cebuanos, to easily adopt discipline and change ourselves in time."

Tiu added: "We are so blessed to help those in need of our services. Our deeds in restoring power in Leyte would surely give a more meaningful conduit toward progress."  (FREEMAN)