Robredo to prioritize underground power, telco infrastructures to avoid collapse during storms

HAZARD A fallen electrical pole blocks the road in Lincod, Maribojoc, Bohol, on Friday. Power restoration efforts are under way in the Visayas and Mindanao provinces hit by Typhoon “Odette,” but officials say local conditions must first ensure the safety of engineers and linemen to be deployed. —Reuters

MANILA, Philippines — If elected president, Vice President Leni Robredo said that she would prioritize the creation of underground power and telecommunication infrastructures amid the perennial problem of collapsed lines during storms.

Robredo on Tuesday said this is a realization she got after personally visiting areas hit by Typhoon Odette from last Friday to Sunday, where she saw houses and electrical and communication posts down, especially in Dinagat Islands in the Caraga Region.

Previously, the Vice President said that there are areas which are still without electricity and mobile signals as of now, making it hard for the provinces to start recovering and to communicate what they need.

“One realization from the series of very strong typhoons which hit our country is that our next priority infrastructure development agenda should be putting electric and communication lines underground, particularly in typhoon-prone areas,” she said in a Facebook post.

https://twitter.com/GabrielLaluINQ/status/1473165335008210944

Robredo claimed that adopting this system would be cost effective, adding that this would ensure that hospitals and other facilities that would need electricity — like storage centers containing COVID-19 vaccines which should be stored at low temperatures — would get the electricity they need.

During her Facebook livestream on Monday, the Vice President relayed that electricity became a problem for hard-hit areas even with generator sets being used, as government offices scrambled to source fuel that would keep the said equipment running.

She said that victims of the calamity also felt that people in other areas particularly Metro Manila have no clear picture regarding the extent of the damage because of unstable communication lines.

Such problems, Robredo believes, would be dealt with if cables were underground.

“First, in the long run, this would be cost-effective compared to the recurring costly rehabilitation of above-ground electric and communication lines and posts which are felled and destroyed by typhoons,” she explained.

“Second, the disruption and absence of power and communication services  adversely affect the economy and business.  Third, the extension of health, hygiene and sanitation services is greatly hampered,” she added.

READ: Robredo: Folk in Odette-hit areas miss coverage of ABS-CBN on the tragedy 

This is not the first time that the creation of underground power and communication lines were suggested: according to Robredo, Albay 1st District Rep. Edcel Lagman, whose province sits in an area frequently hit by strong cyclones, pushed for such measures.

Another lawmaker in BH party-list Rep. Bernadette Herrera-Dy filed a bill last January 2020 that would mandate public and private telecommunications and electric companies to put their lines underground to ensure that these essential services would be available during calamities — like typhoons and volcano eruptions.

Starting last Thursday, Odette barreled through Visayas and Mindanao, hitting the northern portion of Caraga Region before moving to the southern portions of Eastern Visayas, Central Visayas, and then Palawan.

At its peak, Odette packed maximum sustained winds of 195 kilometers per hour (kph) near the center.

Robredo’s team has converted their campaign headquarters in Katipunan Avenue in Quezon City as a relief operation center, as they try to provide assistance to all areas that would need help.  Earlier, Robredo resumed making rounds on the areas affected by Odette, checking on residents of Manjuyod town of Negros Oriental.

EDV