Hopes that power may be restored 45 days after super typhoon Yolanda struck Leyte, Bohol’s only main source of power, crumbled after the Department of Energy (DOE) announced yesterday that repairs of power transmission lines may take up to six months or even a year. DOE Secretary Jericho Petilla during a press conference in Cebu said they were not expecting that the damage brought about by Yolanda would shatter their expectations that repairs would be completed soon. He said the havoc inflicted by Yolanda in Leyte was somehow like the effect of having been hit by an atomic bomb in Hiroshima, Japan. “Power lines are not just down, they are crumpled,” Petilla said. The energy secretary had earlier hinted that repairs of transmission lines should take two to three months but when government workers surveyed the damage on the ground, DOE retracted its earlier statement and declared that it would take up to one year before power would be fully restored in Samar, Leyte, Biliran, and Bohol. The news shocked Boholanos here who have been bearing the fangs of darkness at night compounded by a lack of water supply which is also dependent of electricity. “Kaingon ko ug 45 days lang, one year pa diay ni mahuman ug ayo? Pagkapait,” bemoaned one city resident who requested anonymity. As the power crisis becomes more and more a part of Boholanos’ daily life these days, actual reports and rumors of crimes have started to surface.

Last week, after the onslaught of Yolanda and plunged the entire province of Bohol and it’s only city into pervasive darkness, criminal elements in society also started ransacking warehouses here. Several reports of burglaries in the city and in the towns have reached the Post, and one confirmed burglary took place in a house in Dao, this city. Deploying damage control on the worsening peace and order situation in the city, City Administrator Edi Borja yesterday said City Mayor Baba Yap had instructed the police to increase police visibility from dusk till dawn. “We have deployed more police cars at night and we will continue police foot patrols on the streets,” Borja said. “Yes, I agree that there is a need to tighten up our security and safety measures as we expect that bad elements in our society would take advantage of the blackout,” Borja said. All over the city, people are in panic-buying mood from generators, flashlights, emergency lights, gas, fuel, and anything they consider useful during this difficult season of darkness. As of yesterday, people in Tagbilaran could no longer buy a generator set in any store here. Outside water purifying refilling stations, people are standing on long cue waiting for their water containers to be refilled with potable water.

Reports said the price of 20-liter container is now pegged at P50 to P70 from the normal pick-up price of P15. “Bahala nalang ug walay kuryente basta naa ray tubig mainom,” said one city resident who expressed his growing feeling of discontent on the social networking website Facebook.com. In Jagna town, people are seen lining up at gasoline stations to buy kerosene gas. “There is simply not enough kerosene for all,” according to a text message of a staff of DYRJ Radyo Jagna-Radyo Bol-anon. In Tubigon, Bohol, people have started to panic after water purifying refilling stations had stopped selling drinkable waters, saying it is too costly to produce purified water using a diesel-powered generator set. As of yesterday, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines had sent this media advisory which reads: NGCP MEDIA ADVISORY: (Leyte, Samar, Biliran, Bohol Islands) NGCP is set to install Emergency Restoration System (ERS) structures in lieu of the major transmission lines (350kV, 230kV, 138kV) affected by typhoon Yolanda. It may take 5-6weeks before these major lines will be energized. Leyte, Samar and Biliran Islands are still isolated from the grid.