EDC to help boost disaster resilience of Ormoc City

By Lenie Lectura March 22, 2021
https://businessmirror.com.ph/2021/03/22/edc-to-help-boost-disaster-resilience-of-ormoc-city/

Energy Development Corp. (EDC) has initiated various programs in Ormoc City that are meant to make the latter as the country’s model city for resilience and disaster preparedness.

“EDC is leveling up or elevating its partnership to pave the way for Ormoc City to become a truly resilient and regenerative community by adopting it through the National Resilience Council [NRC] and the Carlos P. Romulo Foundation’s Adopt-a-City program,” the Lopez-firm said Sunday.

In a virtual Memorandum of Agreement signing ceremony, the parties vowed to work together and leverage each other’s capabilities.

“Our work here in this partnership has a lot to do with valuing ecosystems services for climate change mitigation, adaptation, and disaster risk reduction. We are well in line with the statement of EDC Chairman Piki Lopez wherein he outlined a decarbonized and resilient future for the country, using the word regenerative, which is particularly important as far as ecosystem based services are concerned,” said NRC President Antonia Yulo Loyzaga.

Loyzaga added that they would like to take advantage of the vast experience and knowledge of EDC, the human knowledge and technical capacity of the Ormoc City government, and NRC’s work in building this partnership.

EDC President and COO Richard B. Tantoco, meanwhile, committed to keep helping Ormoc City become resilient. “Climate change is going to worsen and we really need to be more and more prepared, which is why we are proud of this partnership with NRC and Ormoc City.”

The expansion of EDC’s role in the partnership include the formation of a multi-sectoral forest protection task force, the creation of 10 pilot barangay emergency response teams, the roll out of a city-wide disaster risk preparedness and response information campaign.

“We’d like our geothermal facilities in Leyte to be the most robust power facility in the country so 2-3 days after a major disaster, the Ormocanons will look up and see that there’s light and know that they can begin rebuilding their lives. If we can help to prevent the Ormocanons from being repeatedly subjected to the attacks of climate change and worsening typhoons, we’re here to support and partner with Ormoc and NRC,” said Tantoco.

Ormoc City Mayor Richard I. Gomez said: “Ormoc is vulnerable to natural disasters, that’s why planning and foresight are very important, and partnerships like this are vital to us. Through this Adopt-a-City program, I know that we will achieve stronger resilience, reduce deaths, and increase development in our city. I want Ormoc to be a model city even if we are just medium sized so that other cities will look up to the things that we do in Ormoc and in Leyte.”

EDC’s Leyte geothermal facility has been supplying power to the province of Leyte and to the rest of the Visayas region for almost 40 years.

The company’s almost 1,200-megawatt total installed geothermal capacity accounts for 62 percent of the country’s generated renewable energy and is responsible for putting EDC and the Philippines on the map as the world’s 3rd largest geothermal producer.