TYPHOON KRISTINE COST MORE THAN HALF MILLION DAMAGE TO BENECO; MAJORITY IN BENGUET PROVINCE

By: Laarni Ilagan

Typhoon Kristine may have spared the Benguet Electric Cooperative from major damage, but it still cost the co-op P610,908.32 in damages to its distribution system majority in Benguet province.

As of October 28, BENECO has recorded P593,421.72 damages to its infrastructures in Benguet compared to Baguio City’s P17,486.60, according to Sheraine Mae Willy, System Planning and Design engineer from the Network Services Department.

No major power outage was felt in Baguio City, during the onslaught of typhoon Kristine. Mostly no lights, low voltage, and others were received. Residents may have felt a power outage, but only in short periods since power was restored soonest.

The five damaged transformers formed the biggest chunk of the damages at P362, 716.06 located in Baguio Gold, Itogon; Bangao, Buguias; Tinongdan, Itogon; Bayabas, Sablan and Camp 1, Tuba. All towns of Benguet.

Collapsed, eroded, and bent poles that were replaced and corrected were mostly in Benguet in the towns of Mankayan, La Trinidad, Buguias, Tuba, and one in Baguio City.

“We were expecting and prepared for the worst case scenario of damages to our distribution system once Kristine (typhoon) lands in Baguio and Benguet, considering the massive damages it wrought on its path when it landed in Bicol region. We were spared,” Ramel Rifani, NSD manager, said with relief.  Benguet and Baguio reached typhoon signal 3. **(LSI)