Tacloban City (CNN Philippines, July 9) — The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines is testing a bypass line from Ormoc to Tabango, Leyte intended to restore electricity to areas affected by the 6.5-magnitude earthquake that hit the province Thursday.
Speaking to CNN Philippines, NGCP Spokesperson Cynthia Alabanza said that as of Sunday afternoon, NGCP has completed construction of the Ormoc-Tabango bypass line and is testing it to see if it can supply electricity to other parts of the Visayas.
The submarine line will distribute power from power plants in Cebu, Negros, and Panay to Leyte and other affected areas in the Visayas.
This after Friday’s magnitude 6.5-quake damaged several power facilities in Leyte that also supplied power to the islands of Samar, Biliran, and Bohol.
The power outage has forced some businesses in Ormoc to limit or cease operations for the time being.
It has also prompted the local government to employ mitigating measures for local security.
“We made sure yung mga pulis namin naka deploy all over the city, pag may nakita kami na palaboy-laboy, pinapauwi, pinapaalis namin, di puede kasi, para maiwasan yung looting dito sa syudad,” Ormoc Mayor Richard Gomez said.
[Translation: We make sure our police are deployed all over the city. When they see someone wandering, we make him go home or leave so we can avoid looting in the city.]
Ma. Edna Legaspina, head of the NGCP’s communication department for Eastern Visayas, said as of Sunday afternoon, the Ormoc-Tabango bypass line has energized eight of 40 municipalities in Leyte.
These are the towns of Tabango, Calubian, Matag-ob, Kananga, Palompon, San Isidro, Villaba and the municipality of Leyte.
Once testing is successful, Alabanza said Samar, Leyte, Biliran, and Bohol will receive power from Cebu, Negros and Panay.
She said the NGCP hopes to finish testing by Sunday but added that power shortages may still mean rotating brownouts in the affected islands.
“There’s a possibility that there will be rotating brownouts because whatever supply is coming from Cebu, Negros and Panay will be limited and unable to serve the needs of Samar, Leyte and Bohol,” she said.
Meanwhile, business group Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Tacloban-Leyte has asked the Eastern Visayas Regional Development Council (RDC) to provide a power barge in Eastern Visayas if electricity will not be restored in two to three weeks.
The business group also asked the RDC to check fuel supply in the region following the surge of fuel consumption from the increased use of power generators.
Duterte urged to declare state of calamity
The RDC has also urged President Rodrigo Duterte to declare a state of calamity in Kananga town and Ormoc City, Leyte following the magnitude-6.5 earthquake.
Regional officials, through a motion of Department of Budget and Management Regional Director Imelda Laceras, passed a resolution to this effect on Saturday through the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council
A total of two people were killed, 80 injured, and 1,764 families were affected by the quake.
The declaration of a state of calamity could help speed up relief efforts and rehabilitation in its affected areas.
At present, Kananga town has declared a state of calamity, while a similar declaration has been proposed for Ormoc.
Kananga Mayor Rowena Codilla also suspended classes until June 11 to give way to safety inspections in all of the town’s schools.
READ: Magnitude 6.5 quake leads to casualties, power outages in Visayas
In the same meeting, DBM regional Director Laceras made a resolution urging the regional disaster risk reduction and management council to fast-track their post-disaster assessment of the quake, which the President may use as basis in declaring a state of calamity.
Catbalogan Mayor Stephany Uy-Tan also made a resolution to create an alliance of Region 8 local government units to respond to the needs of other LGUs when disaster strikes.
CNN Philippines’ David Santos and Amanda Lingao contributed to this report
