In less than a month after super typhoon Uwan devastated Catanduanes, the First Catanduanes Electric Cooperative, Inc. (FICELCO) and cooperatives belonging to Task Force Kapatid have finished the rehabilitation of power lines damaged by the storm.
Last Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, the members of the task force were treated to lunch at Twin Rock Beach Resort where they received the heartfelt gratitude of FICELCO management on behalf of more than 61,000 consumers of Catanduanes.
Although the crews of the local cooperative and the task force members from Mindanao and Sorsogon have restored electric service to 98.7 percent of the 315 barangays as of Dec. 4, 2025, the remaining four villages – two each in Bagamanoc and Panganiban – are all in Panay island shared by both towns.
General Manager Engr. Francis A. Gianan told the Tribune that the island’s distribution lines will be connected to the main grid as soon as weather permits.
It was learned that the power line connecting Panay to Maculiw, which passes over a short stretch of water where Oco river and the sea meets, was cut during the super typhoon.
In terms of households, however, just over 99 percent of the 61,330 homes are now connected to the grid, with the remaining 200 households in Bagamanoc’s Panay barangays of Quigaray and Suchan, 230 in Panganiban’s Panay and Babaguan villages, and 120 in Pandan’s isolated barangays in the mountains.
Set depart the island by Dec. 9 after three weeks of backbreaking work, the TF Kapatid Uwan is composed of teams from eight cooperatives of Region 10’s Northern Mindanao Electric Cooperatives Association and seven cooperatives of Region 13’s Association of Caraga Electric Cooperatives, Inc. (CARAGA – ACEC)
The Northern Mindanao contingent is composed of Bukidnon II Electric Cooperative, Inc. (BUSECO); Camiguin Electric Cooperative, Inc. (CAMELCO); First Bukidnon Electric Cooperative, Inc. (FIBECO); Lanao Electric Cooperative, Inc. (LANECO); Misamis Occidental I Electric Cooperative, Inc. (MOELCI I); Misamis Occidental II Electric Cooperative, Inc. (MOELCI II); Misamis Oriental I Rural Electric Service Cooperative, Inc. (MORESCO I); and Misamis Oriental II Rural Electric Service Cooperative, Inc. (MORESCO II).
The CARAGA group is composed of Agusan Del Norte Electric Cooperative, Inc. (ANECO); Agusan Del Sur Electric Cooperative, Inc. (ASELCO); Surigao Del Norte Electric Cooperative, Inc. (SURNECO); Surigao Del Sur I Electric Cooperative, Inc. (SURSECO I); Surigao Del Sur II Electric Cooperative, Inc. (SURSECO II); Siargao Electric Cooperative, Inc. (SIARELCO)l and Dinagat Islands Electric Cooperative, Inc. (DIELCO).
Sorsogon II Electric Cooperative (SORECO II) also sent a team, which was deployed to Gigmoto, Viga, Bagamanoc and Pandan.
Tasked to restore the backbone line from San Andres to Pandan, the SURSECO I team was deployed along Hilawan to Manambrag in San Andres; ANECO from Lubas, San Andres to Bulalacao, Caramoran; SURSECO II from Bulalacao to Hitoma hydro power plant; SURNECO from Bulalacao to Datag; SIARELCO and DIELCO from Datag to Baybay; and ASELCO from Baybay to Pandan.
In the eastern side of the island, FIBECO handled the Mintay to Cagraray line in Bato; LANECO from Baras to Gigmoto; MORESCO 2 and CAMELCO from Small Viga to Summit and Roxas; BUSECO from Viga población to Villa Aurora; MOELCI 1 and 2 at Penafrancia, Viga; and MORECO 1 at Bagumbayan, Panganiban to Bagamanoc.
The TF Kapatid contingents were each assisted by a team from FICELCO, with the other local crew members concentrating on the energization of households in San Andres, Virac, Bato, San Miguel, Baras and Viga. The teams often worked until the evening, assisted by barangay residents.
Last year, in the wake of super typhoon Pepito that slashed through northern Catanduanes on Nov. 16, 2024, 25 TF Kapatid teams from Region VIII and the Bicol mainland helped FICELCO restore electric service to the entire island in three weeks.