We’re one of the most efficient in region 8 - ESAMELCO

By MEDORA NB QUIRANTE
March 26, 2012

BORONGAN CITY  –  Despite consumer complaints, Eastern Samar Electric Cooperative Board Director Manuel Catuday said the power supplier is still one of the most efficient in Eastern Visayas.

Catuday said this in reaction to DYES Radyo ng Bayan Borongan Reporter Penelope Pomida’s statement that the radio station had received several text messages from listeners complaining about the unreliability of electricity in the province.

“From the last few days of February until the first week of March, we met several power interruptions because of problems we had with the 69kV line,” Atty. Diogenes D. Inciso, Jr. Board President told members of the local media in a press conference held at ESAMLECO’s main office in Borongan City on March 9.

Consumers also took to social networking sites complaining about the frequent blackouts through a fan page named “ESAMELCO Haters.”

“The wood poles we had to replace were located in the middle of the jungles of Samar,” National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) engineer Joel Tan said.

According to Tan, NGCP linemen worked overtime to fix the problem.

“We went to the site and we saw them using a power generator so they could work even at night,” ESAMELCO OIC-General Manager Marilen Reyes added.

“The complaints are only coming from consumers in Borongan City,” Catuday said.

According to the power supplier’s board director, consumers from other towns have observed that ESAMLECO’s service through the years has “improved significantly.”

Also, from being a Category C cooperative, ESAMELCO had been rated B by the National Electrification Administration.