Power to Yolanda-hit Bantayan Island in Cebu restored by May

Power in Cebu's Bantayan Island, one of the areas where Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) made landfall last November, may be fully restored by early May, the Department of Energy said Friday.

The DOE disclosed this in a post-Yolanda briefing, according to state-run Philippine Information Agency's Central Visayas unit on Friday.

"DOE-Visayas says all power supply in Bantayan Island will be restored by the first week of May," the PIA said over Twitter.

It added the DOE Visayas claimed to have restored 60 percent of power in Sta. Fe and Bantayan Island, and 80 percent in Bantayan town.
 

#DOE-Visayas says it has restored 60% power in Sta. Fe/Bantayan Is & 80% in Bantayan town. #PostYolandaBriefing #pia7news

— PIA Central Visayas (@PIACentralViz) April 11, 2014

DOE has also fully restored power for Cebu Electric Cooperatives 1 and 3 in Northern Cebu, PIA said.

DOE-Visayas will also distribute 230 solar street lights in some areas affected by Yolanda.

Leyte

The PIA added the DOE had restored geothermal power plants in Leyte, adding a total generation capacity of 729 megawatts.

Meanwhile, the PIA said the Korean Armed Forces will stay in Leyte until December 2014 for rehabilitation projects in Yolanda-hit areas.

The Korean military contingent, which is composed of more than 500 medical and engineering personnel, was arrived in the country in late December.

According to the Embassy of the Republic of Korea, the deployment of troops reflects "the gratitude of the Korean people to the Filipinos who fought with them during the Korean War, and their optimism about the future of Tacloban."

The Korean Armed Forces has already helped repair schools, fire stations, police stations, postal offices and some houses in Palo, Leyte. — Joel Locsin/JDS, GMA News