Forecast on Power, Preventive Measures

August 4, 2014.  Manila.  The forecast of the international weather watch community for selected parts of Asia is light to heavy rain. For Manila, Philippines and major cities like Cebu, Davao, other parts of the Southeast Asian country, varying forecasts of Tuesday-to-Friday (August 5-8) continuous rains and Wednesday-to-Friday (August 6-8).

PAGASA predicts gale force winds during the same periods mentioned above.

It is inevitable that this will impact once more upon power facilities. If countermeasures are still not being undertaken to buffer the effect of heavy rain and gale force winds brought about by Typhoon Halong (Philippine code Jose), the public may once again anticipate possible power outages in selected areas in the country.

While media reports that the typhoon has weakened over time, it must be noted that storms are invariably finicky and can regain strength at any time. On numerous occasions, typhoons that made landfall in the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR) and exited after some time, gather greater momentum and returns for another landfall in the PAR.

As the forecasts go, there is more rain than powerful, destructive winds that indubitably are the cause of storm surges.

As earlier cautioned on July 13, 2014, necessary steps must be taken to forestall sustaining great but unnecessary damage to power facilities. Thus it is most strongly suggested that, despite the burden of cost, retirable and extremely depreciated installations need to be condemned and replaced. Retrofits and repairs have to be conducted, more so now than ever before.

More efficient and more effective monitoring systems have to be put in place to pinpoint at once all kinds of non-regular performance of components of the distribution system.

Needless to say, the downtime and the cost to the power supplier but most of all the public at large becomes too enormous to bear when stopgaps that are doable are not put in place while there are occasions to do so.

Furthermore, appropriate new technologies for safeguarding the distribution process from tripping or sustaining enormous damage that will surely entail costly repair and rebuilding, ought to be acquired or harnessed to their fullest. More often than not, new methods and technologies form part of the set of stop gaps that power service providers must have to have better staying power.

It is possible that Meralco did not have good pro-active measures, a keenness to acquire or harness new technologies and techniques because it sank into the quagmire of debts amounting to staggering amounts like hundreds of millions to billions of US Dollars. As a result, Meralco today, is 51% owned by PLDT that is run by Mr. Manuel V. Pangilinan that in turn is taking orders from Indonesian and Malaysian investors (Salim Group) that holds the bigger stake in PLDT.

The irony is that, both PLDT and Meralco, are engaged in public services that ideally, should never be in the hands of foreigners as much as humanly possible.

Any enterprise in the power sector that will suffer the same fate as that of the Fukushima Daiichi Power Plant (of Tokyo Electric Power Co.) knowing that pro-active measures could have been taken in advance, would be foolish to absorb losses that could really be avoided in the first place. If the public sector is vigilant, such utility corporations should be stripped of their license and permit to operate electric power distribution services and the opportunity needs to be handed over to more competent and qualified service providers.

A collage of images of damaged power utility facilities alone should give a hint as to the urgency of undertaking advanced planning and early countermeasures, particularly in these times of worsening calamities.

July 15-18, 2014 Philippines

https://youtube.googleapis.com/v/rnRJlyQiH7o&source=uds

https://youtube.googleapis.com/v/YgCY7J7oclk&source=uds

July 17, 2014.  Manila.  It has been forewarned on July 13, 2014 that power utility installations will be among the physical facilities that will sustain the most damage from the tropical storm / typhoon #Rammasun or #Glenda. This kind of phenomenon will keep repeating itself over and over with the advent of more intense weather and climate disturbances in this new millennium.

Shown below is the portrait of damaged power utility facilities inside BF Homes Parañaque and Las Piñas alone:

July 17, 2014

In areas around the rest of the country and in South China (lowermost photo), the impact of Glenda on installations was staggering. (Photo credits: ANC – Yahoo; AvaxNews – Adrian Ayalin; Philippine Daily Inquirer; Straits Times; Xinhua News

July 15-18, 2014

July 19, 2014

Posted under themes:

#Rammasun  #typhoon  #Glenda  #Philippines

Forecast of damage to Philippine power sector

The forecast of the international weather watch community for selected parts of Asia is light to heavy rain. For Manila, Philippines and major cities like Cebu, Davao, other parts of the Southeast Asian country, varying forecasts of Tuesday-to-Friday (August 5-8) continuous rains and Wednesday-to-Friday (August 6-8).

PAGASA predicts gale force winds during the same periods mentioned above.

It is inevitable that this will impact once more upon power facilities. If countermeasures are still not being undertaken to buffer the effect of heavy rain and gale force winds brought about by Typhoon Halong (Philippine code Jose), the public may once again anticipate possible power outages in selected areas in the country.

While media reports that the typhoon has weakened over time, it must be noted that storms are invariably finicky and can regain strength at any time. On numerous occasions, typhoons that made landfall in the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR) and exited after some time, gather greater momentum and returns for another landfall in the PAR.

As the forecasts go, there is more rain than powerful, destructive winds that indubitably are the cause of storm surges.

As earlier cautioned on July 13, 2014, necessary steps must be taken to forestall sustaining great but unnecessary damage to power facilities. Thus it is most strongly suggested that, despite the burden of cost, retirable and extremely depreciated installations need to be condemned and replaced. Retrofits and repairs have to be conducted, more so now than ever before.

More efficient and more effective monitoring systems have to be put in place to pinpoint at once all kinds of non-regular performance of components of the distribution system.

Needless to say, the downtime and the cost to the power supplier but most of all the public at large becomes too enormous to bear when stopgaps that are doable are not put in place while there are occasions to do so.

Furthermore, appropriate new technologies for safeguarding the distribution process from tripping or sustaining enormous damage that will surely entail costly repair and rebuilding, ought to be acquired or harnessed to their fullest. More often than not, new methods and technologies form part of the set of stop gaps that power service providers must have to have better staying power.

It is possible that Meralco did not have good pro-active measures, a keenness to acquire or harness new technologies and techniques because it sank into the quagmire of debts amounting to staggering amounts like hundreds of millions to billions of US Dollars. As a result, Meralco today, is 51% owned by PLDT that is run by Mr. Manuel V. Pangilinan that in turn is taking orders from Indonesian and Malaysian investors (Salim Group) that holds the bigger stake in PLDT.

The irony is that, both PLDT and Meralco, are engaged in public services that ideally, should never be in the hands of foreigners as much as humanly possible.

Any enterprise in the power sector that will suffer the same fate as that of the Fukushima Power Plant (of Tokyo Electric Power Co.) knowing that pro-active measures could have been taken in advance, would be foolish to absorb losses that could really be avoided in the first place. If the public sector is vigilant, such utility corporations should be stripped of their license and permit to operate electric power distribution services and the opportunity needs to be handed over to more competent and qualified service providers.

A collage of images of damaged power utility facilities alone should give a hint as to the urgency of undertaking advanced planning and early countermeasures, particularly in these times of worsening calamities.

July 15-18, 2014 Philippines

Around the rest of the country and in South China (lowermost photo), the impact of Glenda on installations was staggering. (Photo credits: ANC – Yahoo; AvaxNews – Adrian Ayalin; Philippine Daily Inquirer; Straits Times) 

July 19, 2014

Posted under themes:

damage, installations, Sorsogon, typhoon #Jose, #Halong, power utilities,pro-active measures

Vital installations down from Glenda, threatened by coming typhoons

It has been forewarned on July 13, 2014 that power utility installations will be among the physical facilities that will sustain the most damage from the tropical storm / typhoon #Rammasun or #Glenda. This kind of phenomenon will keep repeating itself over and over with the advent of more intense weather and climate disturbances in this new millennium.

Shown below is the portrait of damaged power utility facilities inside BF Homes Parañaque and Las Piñas alone:

July 17, 2014

In areas around the rest of the country and in South China (lowermost photo), the impact of Glenda on installations was staggering. (Photo credits: ANC – Yahoo; AvaxNews – Adrian Ayalin; Philippine Daily Inquirer; Straits Times; Xinhua News

July 15-18, 2014

July 19, 2014

Draft Legislation – Rehabilitation of Yolanda damaged area

New wording of draft legislation for the rehabilitation of areas affected by the recent killer earthquake and the Typhoon Yolanda – without excluding the forthcoming damage that will be wrought by the new tropical storm, Typhoon Zorayda. Click here to download draft bill. 

Bohol-Cebu earthquake

Typhoon Yolanda in Tacloban, Leyte

Photo credit: Daniel Politi – slate.com

Photo credit: Yahoo PH

Source: Post Disaster: The Quest for Rehabilitation

Philippine Banking Dearth of Knowledge, Poverty in Intelligence

To conduct a comprehensive survey of bank founder-owners, bank managers, investment leaders, trust executives in the Philippines today, will bring one to misery, sorrow and disgust at the level of knowledge of bankers in the Philippines.

This is not to say that such a case exists only in this particular country. It is common in so many other nations. Only a few bankers truly are aware of their real, noble role as a public service institution, giving and delivering the best kind of service to the people.

In a world where there is no plus side to very small revenue or cash accumulation, bankers are inclined to accommodate rich clientele and Alvin Toffler’s dark characters who form the other side of the coin of that phenomenon in modern times that he calls rapid wealth creation: criminals, underworld, terrorists, drug kingpins and the like.

Extraordinary is a bank manager from Antipolo who declares, “from our subsidiary bank, if you have a transaction to settle with our mother bank, I can endorse you all the way so they will provide you all the assistance you need.” In the case of a bank branch manager of a large bank at V.A. Rufino St., Makati City, the lady manager says it is impossible to endorse a transaction or provide suggestion to the manager of another branch of the same bank. This Makati bank branch manager wants that all transactions must emanate only from her branch.

What will keep a bank manager from endorsing a client? And what will prevent the bank manager from Antipolo to continue to give positive, constructive aid to clients in linking up with other branches of his bank?

The manager from Antipolo is the epitome of the banker’s public service ethic. The manager from V.A. Rufino in Makati is distinctly the portrait of the imbecile banker.

More than 70% to 80% of bankers in the Philippines suffer from a dearth of knowledge and are extremely poor in intelligence as well as wanting in intellect. No one is to blame except their headquarters office and the kind of education bankers get from the Philippine educational system that cannot afford to teach the correct nuances and shades of meaning of banking jargon.

On the part of bank headquarters, the governing policy of their banking corporations are bereft of the desire to promote broader credit to the entrepreneur population. The hard and fast rules of KYC – Know Your Customer, is extremely distorted and warped so much so that even knowing the potential depositors are thieves, murderers, drug lords, gambling lords, possibly as well terrorists fronted for by their relatives and associates, the bank manager will happily endorse the opening of banking relationship with the criminal and proceed to service that enemy of the public.

Effectively, this makes banks Public Enemy, by association, as launderers of the funds of these members of the underworld.

Indeed, the benefit of the bank accepting as much cash and other valuables from these shady characters is tremendous, at least there should be balancing acts on the part of bank management to add a redeeming value to their inclination to accommodate and protect criminal figures.

Compounding the situation of refusal to give away assistance to clients, is the inability of bankers to fulfill their ultimate obligation to service the customer. In many foreign-to-local transactions, if the scheme utilized is new to the Philippine banker, the transaction becomes bogged down not be the absence of interest of the banker but by the lack of fingertip knowledge and second nature skill to attend to the needs of the client.

The exchange between bank management and client becomes endless with no results being delivered by the Philippine bank, whereas the foreign counterpart bank has already done its role: i.e. transmittal of documentary requirements for fund transfer or credit for the Philippine bank client. The time spent becomes long and tedious that all the initial momentum goes to waste.

If the transaction involves a definite, specific timeline, the transaction will go south. The losses might never again be recoverable. For the poor Philippine bank client, the damage could be enormous and irreparable. But will Philippine banker be touched by the final impact upon the client?

They can never probably be affected, unless they did it on purpose and only in a small way. The reason why the Philippine banker will not even think about the great wrong done on the client is that he doesn’t know and therefore he could not care less.