THE Cebu Provincial Government has released over P17 million in cash incentives to linemen, the Cebu provincial police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) for helping Cebu recover quickly from the ravages of Typhoon Odette (Rai).
Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia turned over to the heads of these institutions a total of P17,065,000 intended for their combined 3,413 personnel during a ceremonial turnover at the Capitol Social Hall on Monday, Jan. 24, 2022.
Beneficiaries were asked to claim the actual incentive of P5,000 each from the Provincial Treasurer’s Office.
A month and eight days since Typhoon Odette struck Cebu on Dec. 16, 2021 and devastated a huge expanse of the Province of Cebu, the Province has come a long way in its road clearing operations and power restoration efforts with Cebu’s power distribution utilities performing “beyond expectations,” Garcia said in her speech Monday.
She recalled calling upon contractors, the PNP (Philippine National Police) and the AFP to help us “as we grappled with fallen trees, fallen poles, and even parts of houses’ roofs that littered and cluttered our roads.”
Road clearing was the first order of the day to enable relief operations to reach the local government units (LGUs) and far-flung barangays, Garcia said.
On Saturday, or two days after the storm, Garcia said power distribution utilities (DU) gave commitments “that parts of the city and parts of the province would be lighted up within the week. And those commitments were followed through.”
Garcia praised Cebu’s DUs for performing “beyond expectations, well beyond the performances of other DUs in the other provinces that were not as badly hit as the Province of Cebu.”
Typhoon Odette struck Cebu with sustained winds of 175 kilometers per hour (kph) and gusts of up to 240 kph, hitting badly Cebu’s central and southern parts.
But Garcia said even Cebu Electric Cooperative Inc. (Cebeco 1), with over 5,000 poles downed by Odette, had, within three weeks, fully energized all of the 18 LGUs in southern Cebu under its franchise along the highways and poblacion (municipality center) while continuing to work on other interior barangays.
Cebecos 2 and 3 are now assisting Cebeco 1, she said.
The governor said clearing operations were completed in “a record number of days because the armed forces, aided by our Arescom (Army Reserve Command), the 53rd Engineering Brigade, and the Cebu-Bohol-Siquijor Task Force, were all there, the personnel helping our contractors to pick up debris and to clear the roads that were previously impassable.”
Amid the now nearly two-year-old coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic still threatening, this time with the latest variant, Omicron, Garcia thanked Col. Engelbert Soriano of the Cebu Police Provincial Office “for having stayed with the Province in the strict monitoring of public transport that tend to overload, in the strict monitoring of passengers that need to maintain health protocols and in seeing to it that in the Province of Cebu, EOs 35 and 35-B are strictly enforced.”
Executive Order (EO) 35, issued in August 2021, laid down the protocols for the implementation of the general community quarantine with heightened restrictions in the Province of Cebu, which excludes the highly urbanized cities of Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu.
EO 35-B provided additional protocols for public utility vehicles to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
Garcia said she decided to give the cash incentives after seeing that even if the linemen and members of the PNP and AFP personnel were themselves victims of Typhoon Odette, they had set aside their personal difficulties to help the public first.
The Cebu Police Provincial Office (CPPO) led by Col. Engelbert Soriano and his command group received the bulk of the incentives at P13,045,000 for 2,609 personnel.
For the AFP, the Philippine Army’s Regional Community Defense group led by Col. Edgar Mangabay received P495,000 for 99 personnel; the Philippine Army’s Task Force Cebu-Bohol-Siquijor led by Col. Jerry Borja received P470,000 for 94 personnel, while the Philippine Army’s 53rd Engineering Brigade led by Lt. Col. Ephraim Camaganacan received P155,000 for 31 personnel.
For their electricity restoration efforts, Visayan Electric Co. Inc. assistant vice president for engineering operations Mark Anthony Kindica received P180,000 for 36 personnel or linemen.
The Cebu Electric Cooperative Inc. (Cebeco 1) led by general manager Getulio Crodua received P825,000 for 165 personnel or linemen, while Cebeco 2 general manager Lowell Belciña received P1,065,000 for 213 personnel or linemen and Cebeco 3 general manager Virgilio Fortich received P830,000 for 166 linemen.
As of Tuesday, Visayan Electric had energized 86.04 percent or 407,996 of its 474,182 affected customers in the four towns and cities in its franchise in Metro Cebu.
Cebeco 2, serving northern Cebu, achieved 100 percent barangay restoration and 99 percent customer restoration in its franchise area of 13 LGUs on Jan. 10.
On Jan. 12, it sent 86 of its personnel to Pinamungajan town under Cebeco 3’s franchise area to provide assistance.
Cebeco 3, serving 5 LGUs in Cebu’s midwest and some areas in Visayan Electric’s franchise area, said it had achieved 98.62 percent barangay restoration and 80.08 percent household connection restoration as of Jan. 22.