A Leyeco II lineman works on a post during a 10-power outage in Leyte that started on New Year’s Eve 2024. —Photo from the Facebook page of Leyeco II
TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines – Residents of this city and its neighboring towns of Palo and Babatngon ushered in the New Year in darkness as a power interruption left them without electricity for at least 10 hours.
The outage, which affected over 91,000 member consumers, began at 10:11 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2024.
Power was restored at 7:48 a.m. the following day.
READ: NGCP completes Leyte power reconnection to Cebu: RDC-7
The Leyte II Electric Cooperative (Leyeco II), the electricity provider for Tacloban City, Palo, and Babatngon, attributed the blackout to a cut conductor along the Babatngon-Apitong 69-kilovolt line in Barangay Diit, Tacloban City.
The incident was reported by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).
READ: Bohol: 27MW solar farm in Dahogoy starts operation
Power outage
The unexpected power outage, occurring just two hours before the New Year, sparked frustration among affected consumers, many of whom vented their complaints on the social media pages of Leyeco II and NGCP.
Some, however, took the situation in stride, making lighthearted comments.
READ: Mayor Torres pushes for cityhood of Kananga in Leyte
“We can finally get some rest from our neighbors’ videoke singing,” one user quipped.
Others lamented the inconvenience, saying they could neither enjoy their prepared meals nor don their special New Year’s outfits.
One person joked: “That’s a one-year blackout, from December 31, 2024, to January 1, 2025, a world record.”
Fireworks
Despite the blackout, many residents managed to celebrate as fireworks lit up the sky at the stroke of midnight.
2 fires
Meanwhile, in Catarman, Northern Samar, two business establishments were gutted by fire early on New Year’s Day.
The blaze, reportedly caused by faulty electrical wiring, broke out at around 5:36 a.m. and was extinguished by 7 a.m.
The fire caused damage estimated at P1 million, according to the local fire station. No injuries were reported.
In Eastern Visayas, the Department of Health (DOH) recorded eight firecracker-related injuries during the New Year festivities.