Corporate Social Responsibility Davao Light Sustainability

Task Force Odette helps energize Bohol

May 25, 2022

In its continuous support to the ongoing power restoration operations in the areas affected by Typhoon Odette, Davao Light and Power Co. Inc. (Davao Light), an AboitizPower subsidiary, sent Task Force Odette to Bohol, Visayas. The team, composed of 10 skilled linemen, was deployed on May 12, 2022, to assist the power utility cooperative in Bohol to restore the remaining 20% unenergized areas in the island.

The portions of Bohol that remain to have no power are located in far-flung areas where there is a challenge for heavy equipment to access. Task Force Odette will augment the workforce of the power utility cooperative which is already responding in the area and help in the manual works like putting up poles.

"The extent of this natural disaster is quite massive and every utility company affected will appreciate help," Orville Lazaro, the Assistant Vice President (AVP) for Engineering Operations of Davao Light said. He mentioned that Task Force Odette had also been deployed to Cebu last year to help restore power in the city. "We are so fortunate [in Davao City] because we rarely experience natural disasters such as typhoons, so it’s an honor for us to extend our help to the [utility] facilities in other parts of the country,” Lazaro added. Odette, a super typhoon, affected areas in Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, Northern Mindanao, Davao, Soccsksargen, and Caraga.

Recently, the team has erected twelve 35-feet steel poles in Brgy Mantalungon to Purok 3, Katipunan Sagbayan, Bohol, among other activities. The team is set to return by the end of May 2022.

Davao Light is the third-largest privately-owned electric distribution utility in the country in terms of customer size and annual kWh sales, serving customers in Davao City, Panabo City, and the municipalities of Carmen, Dujali, and Santo Tomas in Davao del Norte.