CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – The 2,000-hectare Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija, base of the Army’s 7th Infantry Division (ID) operating in Central Luzon, has remained without electric power and running water for 11 days now since the onslaught of Typhoon Santi. Col. Ernesto Torres, chief operations officer of the 7th ID, told Punto that both offi ces and hundreds of homes of military families are affected by the power blackout.
Firetrucks provide them with water as the water system in the camp was dependent on electricity, he said.
Torres said, however, that regular operations of the 7th ID and other units of the Army have been kept at usual pace despite the lack of power and water. Also affected in the camp are the Army’s Special Operations Command, the Artillery Regiment, and Aviation Batallion, as well as the school of the Training and Doctrine Command.
He said that Santi downed scores of old trees and electric posts in the command and that some P3 million is being awaited from the central headquarters of the Philippine Army for the restoration of electricity in the camp.
Torres could not immediately say how much was the cost of damage in the camp, but noted that scores of houses lived in by military families were also affected by Santi’s strong winds.
While the Nueva Ecija Electric Cooperative (NEECO) normally supplies power to Fort Magsaysay, the military apparently has to shoulder some of the cost for the rehabilitation of the power system there, he noted.
“Our first priority are the main offices and the households,” he said. Some offices moved to offices powered by gas -operated generators supplied by the central headquarters, he added.
