Tourism sector welcomes full power restoration in quake-hit areas

TACLOBAN CITY, Aug. 1 -- The Department of Tourism has welcomed the full restoration of power in areas hit by magnitude 6.5 earthquake on July 6, citing the need for tourism establishments to enjoy uninterrupted power supply. 

DOT Eastern Visayas Regional Director Karina Rosa Tiopes said the normal supply of power was a positive development for the hotels, restaurants and other tourism-related businesses, which were hard-hit by the one-week total blackout and two weeks or rotational brownouts. 

“When power supply was cut due to the quake, our stakeholders had to contend with the expenses they incurred to operate using power generators,” Tiopes said Tuesday in a message sent to PNA. 

“For accommodation facilities that had no power generators, business operations were temporarily stopped. For some entities, the rotational brownouts and power fluctuations also damaged some of their air-conditioning units and spoiled perishable food supplies.” 

The official noted that hotels without 24-hours power supply suffered income losses as some guests cancelled their booking or transfer to another accommodation facilities. 

“With the restoration of the normal power supply, tourism-related enterprises will be back to their normal business operations,” Tiopes added. 

The official made the statement days after transmission service provider National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) fully restored the power supply in Eastern Visayas and Bohol Island on July 28 or three days ahead of the target set by the Department of Energy. 

The Leyte II Electric Cooperative (Leyeco) II, which distributes power to the regional capital and nearby towns, lauded the NGCP for fully restoring power in quake-hit provinces ahead of July 31 schedule. 

“For one, Leyeco II likewise appreciates NGCP's unwavering commitment to better serve the electric cooperatives in the region,” the cooperative said in a statement on Monday. 

Leyeco II, tagged as mega large electric cooperative, has 61,625 connections in this city and nearby towns of Palo and Babatngon. Tacloban, the regional capital, is the host of the region’s biggest shops and hotels. 

NGCP said that the islands of Leyte, Samar Bohol has been energized ahead of the schedule set by the energy department on July 30, according to NGCP statement. 

The projected demand is 291 megawatts (MW) is broken down as follows: 210 MW for Leyte and Samar and 81 MW for Bohol. 

The total potential of 330 MW in the three islands to address its projected peak demand of 291 MW is broken down as follows: 135 MW traversing the Ormoc Substation; 40 MW from Tongonan Geothermal Power Plant; around 20 MW from various embedded generation sources; and additional 135 MW through the Ormoc Substation. 

Since the earthquake struck Leyte last July 6, the NGCP has been working 24 hours daily in order to normalize the transmission of power.(Sarwell Q. Meniano & Vicky C. Arnaiz/PNA)