CEBU CITY, Philippines— Linemen.
On the most wonderful time of the year, these hardworking individuals are usually on a break to celebrate the holidays with their families.
There are usually no scheduled power outages on the 24th and 25th of December.
But this year, some linemen, if not most of them, had to cancel their vacations so Cebu can get its power back as soon as possible.
Given the massive devastation brought about by super typhoon Odette in the Visayas, linemen from Visayan Electric needed help from other power companies around the country to work on restoring power in time for Christmas.
In this #CDNPaskoSaSugbo feature, let’s get to know some of the men who did not hesitate to lend a hand so some Cebuanos can be jolly on Christmas Day.
Let’s get to know these Christmas heroes.
Photo from Visayan Electric Co.
Baltazar Antido, Meralco head of Security for Cebu, had to ditch his daughter’s 18th birthday and chose to be with his men in Cebu to fix broken lines.
“Nalulungkot din malayo sa pamilya pero kailangan talaga magtrabaho, 18th birthday nga nang anak ko kahapon. Nasanay na rin ang pamilya ko nga ganito talaga ang trabaho ko. Call of duty, nasanay na sa sistema,” Antido said.
Having worked for Meralco for 26 years, Antido has been on many calamity rescue operations as well.
One of which was during the onslaught of super typhoon Yolanda.
“Yung sa Yolanda, nagkalat ang mga patay. Ngayon sa Odette, aang daming nasira na establishments at facilities,” he shared.
There are 39 members from the Meraclo company who are now here in Cebu.
From Luzon, here’s one hero from down south in Mindanao.
Henry Macaso, team leader of Davao Light Contractor-Lubtraco and 27 of his men are working in Cebu as well to ensure that some can get electricity this Christmas season.
He has been a lineman since 2012 and this is his first time to respond to a calamity.
“Lisod malayo sa pamilya kung Pasko. Pero trabaho man ni namo. Andam gyud mi motabang kay basin simbako, kami unya ang magkinahanglan og tabang,” he said.
Although his team will be spending their Christmas away from their families, these linemen from Davao are still hopeful that they’d have a fun Noche Buena in Cebu together. As a team, and as a family.
“Dinhi na lang mi mag celebrate sa Pasko inig kahuman sa among trabaho unyang gabii. Magtapok tapok lang mi diri,” he added.
This last linemen to be featured in this story is the team leader from Visayan Electric assigned to repari 69kv line along U.N. Avenue. He is Engineer Roy Nunez.
Having been a lineman for 15 years for Visayan Electric, Nunez is not new to this kind of rescue restorations.
“Since I joined Visayan Electric this is the second time that we are responding to a calamity. First was during Yolanda. But the effects of Odette is more massive,” he shared.
Nunez and his family planned to spend the holidays in the province but just like most of the linemen here in Cebu, he had to stay behind and be with his team.
“My family is sad that I cannot be with them to celebrate Christmas but this is my work. This is our work. It has been instilled in my mind and in the minds of my team members that we need to work, we need to help,” he added.
Cebu is experiencing a different kind of Christmas magic this year, a magic that is worth remembering, the ‘bayanihan’ magic that will go down in Philippine history.
Photo from Visayan Electric Co.
Photo from Visayan Electric Co.
Over at Visayan Electric office, employees made sure that they still get to feel the Christmas spirit by playing Christmas tunes all-day long, even during these trying times in the Queen City of the South.
These linemen are risking their lives every single day to ensure that some families get to experience a bright Christmas despite the devastating blow brought about by super typhoon Odette.
Way sukod ang among pasalamat para sa atong mga linemen, engineers, team leaders, ug uban pang sakop sa mga responders sa pag hatag og paglaom sa mga Sugboanon.
A snappy salute to our modern-day heroes.
/bmjo
READ MORE: A dark Christmas for most of Metro Cebu