𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐈𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄21 December 2021𝐏𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐀 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐓𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐊𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐝 𝐃𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭; 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬A total of 74 teams with 411 identified personnel and 86 vehicles are either dispatched already or scheduled for dispatch by PHILRECA Task Force Kapatid to areas severely affected by typhoon Odette, PHILRECA reports today.“The Task Force has already identified the electric cooperatives needing assistance, specifically, those in Regions VI, VII, VIII, X, and CARAGA. Of the 74 teams who will be assisting the affected ECs, 53 teams have been deployed already with many of them performing or have completed restoration and repair efforts at the affected ECs already,” reported Atty. Janeene Depay-Colingan, Executive Director and General Manager of PHILRECA.Per Task Force Kapatid’s report, 17 teams have been assigned to Region VI, 17 teams for Region VII, 14 teams for Region VIII, 8 teams for Region X, and 18 teams for CARAGA Region. At least 7 more electric cooperatives are expected to send in more teams in the days to come.𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑬𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒈𝒊𝒛𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏As of this writing, PHILRECA Task Force Kapatid reports that except for BOHECO I (due to unavailability of NGCP services) and SURNECO, different barangays of affected electric cooperatives have now been partially or fully energized.“Our Task Force Commanders reported that the following have been energized already: AKELCO’s 374 of 381 (98.16%) barangays; ANTECO’s 410 of 537 (76.35%) barangays; ILECO II’s 561 of 587 (95.57%) barangays; GUIMELCO’s 86 of 98 (87.76%) barangays; NONECO’s 149 of 196 (76.00%) barangays; BOHECO II’s 107 of 196 (55.00%) barangays; PROSIELCO’s 34 of 134 (25.37%) barangays; ESAMELCO’s 564 of 593 (95.11%) barangays; LEYECO V’s 409 of 416 (98.32%) barangays; ANECO’s 159 of 253 (63.06%) barangays; SURSECO I’s 101 of 113 (89.00%) barangays; and SURSECO II’s 67 of 192 (34.90%) barangays,” said Colingan.While restoration efforts are already ongoing, other electric cooperatives are still consolidating updates on their energization status.𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑴𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑻𝒂𝒔𝒌 𝑭𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒆According to Engr. Kenjie Fagyan, road closures and unavailability of ro-ro vessels remain a challenge to the contingents being deployed, especially those who will be having inter-island travel. “Unfortunately, some ports have no available vessels for us to transport vehicles, equipment, and lineworkers to the affected electric cooperatives. We are requesting the Philippine Coast Guard to help us address this concern,” said Fagyan who is also coordinating deployment and mobilization of the Task Force. “We are also monitoring the low pressure area which will likely cross the CARAGA-Visayas area by December 27 onwards as forecasted by PAG-ASA, and hopefully, this will not hamper our restoration and deployment efforts,” added Fagyan.𝑳𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝑺𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑯𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒅𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝑨𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝑭𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒔On a more emotional note, however, lineworkers have expressed their commitment to continue restoration and repairs and spend the holiday away from their families so that homes in affected areas will be energized the soonest possible time. “We could not be prouder of our Warriors of Light and their respective families who are willing to sacrifice their personal convenience for the benefit of others who have been affected by this calamity – this is Bayanihan at its best,” said Presley C. De Jesus, president and party-list representative of PHILRECA. According to PHILRECA, these batches of lineworkers are only the ‘First Wave’ of Task Force Kapatid contingents – more groups are expected to be mobilized and deployed. ###