The power and telecommunications sector should work together seamlessly, as was highlighted by widespread service disruptions in the aftermath of typhoon Odette, an advocacy group said.
Orlando Oxales, convenor of CitizenWatch Philippines, said both these services are essential to disaster relief operations and in the rehabilitation of the typhoon-ravaged communities.
“We need fast action and cooperation between telcos and power cooperatives,” he said. “The disruption in electricity and communication services hampers efforts to save lives and property and compromises these communities’ ability to bounce back quickly after the disaster,” he said.
The disruption in telecommunications was felt in the immediate aftermath of the disaster, with relatives unable to contact their loved ones to find out whether they survived the typhoon. Text and photo descriptions of the devastation also came in trickles over social media.
“This created a terrifying vacuum of information in the crucial hours when relief was most needed,” Oxales said.
Power and telecommunication services in some areas were restored after a few days, but not in all affected places.
Then again, services outside the capital region have been known to be both expensive and intermittent. “These have been to the detriment of consumers, businesses, and the overall development of the regions.”
“This reflects the gaps in our disaster resilience and shows how vulnerable we are to external factors like extreme weather and should be more than enough impetus for the government to work closely with the private sector in modernizing our power and digital infrastructure especially in these regions where electricity cooperatives need big capital to upgrade capacity and build readiness to react to these events,” Oxales said.
Then again, the call to modernize power infrastructure in all regions in the country has been long-standing. “Government has yet to provide sufficient incentives and more enabling policies to upgrade infrastructure and help the distribution utilities in these affected areas to restore services after any disruptive occurrences,” he said.
Oxales suggested that assistance to electricity cooperatives be allocated using the quick-disbursing loans extended by the World Bank for post-disaster response. “This could go a long way in improving response time and robustness of electricity cooperative especially in less developed municipalities,” he said.
Rehabilitation of damaged infrastructure, Oxales said, should not be limited to buildings, roads or bridges but also power and telecommunications facilities.
It is almost a certainty that another disaster will test the mettle of Filipino communities in the foreseeable future.
“During this sobering period, when Christmas is coming and yet we are not entirely free of the COVID problem, now comes an opportunity to pitch in and help our fellow Filipinos affected by Odette,” Oxales said.
“At the same time, we should think long term and ensure that such disruptions will be minimized by implementing pro-active strategies for disaster resiliency and sustainable communities.”