NGCP report of a cut conductor
TACLOBAN CITY – Residents of this city and its neighboring towns of Palo and Babatngon ushered in the New Year in darkness as a power interruption left them without electricity for at least 10 hours.
The outage, which affected over 91,000 member-consumers, began on Wednesday, December 31, 2024, at around 10:11 p.m., and power was only restored at approximately 7:48 a.m. the following day.
The Leyte II Electric Cooperative (Leyeco II), the electricity provider for Tacloban City, Palo, and Babatngon, said that based on the information relayed to them by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), the blackout was due to a cut conductor along the Babatngon-Apitong 69-kilovolt line in Barangay Diit, Tacloban City.
The unexpected power outage, occurring just two hours before the New Year, sparked frustration among affected consumers, many of whom vented their complaints on the social media pages of Leyeco II and NGCP.
Some, however, took the situation in stride, making lighthearted comments.
“We can finally get some rest from our neighbors’ videoke singing,” one user quipped. Others lamented the inconvenience, saying they could neither enjoy their prepared meals nor don their special New Year’s outfits.
One commenter joked, “That’s a one-year blackout, from December 31, 2024, to January 1, 2025,” a ‘world record’ he said.
Despite the blackout, many residents managed to celebrate as fireworks lit up the sky at the stroke of midnight.
In Catarman, Northern Samar, two business establishments were gutted by fire early on New Year’s Day.
The blaze, reportedly caused by faulty electrical wiring, broke out at around 5:36 am and was extinguished by 7 a.m.
The fire caused damage estimated at P1 million, according to the local fire station. No injuries were reported.
Meanwhile, the Department of Health (DOH) recorded 23 firecracker-related injuries during the New Year festivities, lower by one case compared to the 2024 celebration.
Victims, ranging from a five-year-old boy to a 40-year-old man, reportedly used various types of firecrackers, including whistle bombs, kwitis, and ‘lantaka’.
(JOEY A. GABIETA)
