Talamban residents fear for health, safety

Some residents of barangay Talamban in Cebu City are opposing a plan by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) to install new transmission lines in their area.

Their fears for the health and safety of their families came out in yesterday’s public hearing in City hall.

The proposed transmission lines will pass through at least 15 residential lots.

Talamban resident Cheryl Chua said the power lines should be rerouted instead and pass through a vacant lot in the area.

NGCP counsel Maria Elena Capanas told the City Council that they prepared two route plans for the transmission lines.

The first route, which is a straight line design, is expected to affect about 50 structures in the interior of barangay Talamban. This option is more costly because setting up suspension towers would require an area of about 30 meters which they will have to expropriate.

Capanas said the second route, which is a zigzag route, will pass through 15 residential and mostly roadside structures. This option is less costly because it will only require the installation of steel poles on a 12 meter right- of-way.

“This will cause lesser disturbance,” she told the councilors.

Capanas said that lot owners are being offered 10 percent of the zonal value of their properties, but negotiations could further increase their expropriation offer.

While NGCP is a private corporation, Republic Act 9511 which granted them a franchise to operate transmission lines, also gives them the authority to exercise the power of eminent domain or to expropriate.

R.A. 9511 gives NGCP, which is partly owned by businessman Henry Sy, the right to operate power transmission lines for a 25 year period renewable for another 25 years. Its operation is under the supervision of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).

Capanas said it would be impossible for NGCP to match the existing market value of properties in the area considering the need to pass on the cost of installing new transmission lines to consumers.

When they complete the installation of their transmission lines, NGCP will have to file a petition with the ERC to recover the cost of their investment.

“NGCP also feels for the public. We also consider cost to mitigate cost that will be passed on to the public,” she said.

Chua said that while residents question the low purchase offer for their land that will be affected by the NGCP project, affected families also fear the effect of high voltage transmission lines to the health of families in the area.

Julia Echavez of NGCP’s Environment Management Division said there are no studies which show health hazards suffered by people living near transmission power lines.

Councilor Alvin Arcilla asked NGCP representatives if they could upgrade their transmission lines in Talamban instead of putting up new ones.

Capanas said that existing transmission lines are already fully used to bring power from generating firms in Naga City for distribution in Cebu City.

“We can no longer enhance that because it has already attained its full capacity,” she said.

Capanas said NGCP needs new transmission lines to accommodate additional power being produced in power plants in southern Cebu. Also, she said, it is feasible to bring two high voltage lines with about 138 kilovolts close to each other.

Councilor Nestor Archival, who heads the council’s utilities committee, asked NGCP to sit down with him and his vice chairman, Councilor Roberto Cabarrubias, and affected residents to come to terms on a win-win solution.