Leyte local execs appeal for food, water

The three-story New Town commercial building in Kananga town, Leyte, collapsed after a strong tremor hit the province on Thursday afternoon, July 6, 2017. (Contributed photo)

ORMOC CITY, Leyte – Local officials were appealing for food and potable water, especially to at least 20 barangays that were badly affected by the earthquake that shook Leyte and cut off power supply on Thursday.

The tremor, the strongest to hit the province in recent years, also killed two people in Ormoc and in nearby Kananga town and wounded more than 200 people.

“We need generator sets to pump the water wells,” appealed Mayor Richard Gomez, as residents could not tap the surface water since the rivers and springs and become muddy following the earthquake.

Affected were mostly mountain barangays that were accessible only through motorcycles due to rough and muddy roads.

The Energy Development Corp. (EDC), which operates a geothermal plant in Ormoc, lent three generator sets in Ormoc and another in Kananga.

The earthquake also damaged the runway at the Ormoc airport, two major highways, one footbridge and two bridges.

Gomez said the earthquake triggered landslides in four barangays –Cabaon-an, Cabintan, Tongonan and Gaas.

Killed during the landslide was Rhissa Rosales, 19, a resident of Barangay Cabaon-an, Ormoc City who was hit by concrete debris during the landslide.

Her six-month-old baby survived.

At least 170 people were wounded during the earthquake and landslides in Ormoc.

In Kananga, the lone fatality was identified as Jerry Novilla who died when a three-story building collapsed during the earthquake.

At least 37 people were wounded while two school buildings in Barangays Lim-au and Rizal were damaged.

One of those who injured was Charlie Minosa, 32, who hurt his feet after he landed on the iron sheet when he jumped from the second floor of their house in Barangay Poblacion.

Mimosa, a tattoo artist from Caloocan City who was staying with his aunt, said he was in Kananga to take a vacation.

“But this happened to me. It’s OK. I survived anyway,” he added.

The Kananga municipal council had declared a state of calamity to allow the town to access of funds to aid the victims.

Leyte Governor Leopoldo Dominico Petilla suspended all classes in all levels in the province to give way for the evaluation and inspection of all school buildings for any possible damage due to the earthquake.

Petilla said that heavy equipment from the provincial engineering office had been deployed to help in clearing operations.

Ormoc, Kananga and the rest of Leyte as well as Southern Leyte and Samar Island were still without power as the quake caused power transmission system to trip off and damaged power sources.

An advisory from Based on the advisory from National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) on Friday morning said tower along the 138-kV Ormoc-Togonan Line in Ormoc City, Leyte was found leaning following an aerial and ground inspections.

NGCP has also mobilized six line gangs to temporarily restore the Ormoc-Togonan 138kV Line. Another line gang was sent to Kananga Switchyard, owned by EDC, to assist in restoration and to assess possible ways of extending power from the Tabango Substation to Ormoc Substation, the statement said.

NGCP’s Cebu-Leyte submarine cable and its Tabango Substation in Leyte continue to transmit power to Leyte Electric Cooperative 5 that served the towns of Tabango, San Isidro, and Villaba.

“There is a complete loss of power in Bohol and Samar islands, and Southern Leyte. Due to supply deficiency caused by the outage of power plants located in Leyte, customers in Cebu, Negros, and Panay may also suffer occasional power interruptions,” said the NGCP advisory.

In a statement, EDC president Ricky Tantoco said they had shut down their plants to check on the damage that might have been caused by the earthquake.

At that time of the earthquake, their plants had been providing 460 megawatt to the Visayas grid.

In addition to the plants, the statement said there was visible damage to their marshalling stations where the power from their plants was sent for transmission to the grid.

“We have mobilized our team of contractors who will be working 24/7, as may be permitted by safety considerations given that aftershocks are still being felt, to have the marshalling stations back in operation in 3 to 5 days,” he said.

Without electricity, water supply was a problem.

In Bohol, residents complained of no water supply.

“We don’t have power. We don’t have water. Where will we turn to,” asked Anabelle Magoncia, 45, a resident of Ubujan District.

In its advisory, the Bohol Light advised consumers to conserve batteries and water.

“Power plants & NGCP Sub-station in Leyte are shut down and still on assessment period. Power restoration for Bohol may take long. Please take precautions to prevent fire, conserve water and remove plugs from outlets,” it said. – Robert Dejon, Joey A. Gabieta, Vicky Arnaiz, Leo Udtohan and Connie Fernandez Inquirer Visayas