A TOTAL of 621 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) have been affected by Severe Tropical Storm Kristine, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) reported on Thursday, with initial data on damages said to be worth P77.91 billion.
Acting Trade Secretary Christina Roque gave an assurance the government had set aside P2 billion in funds to allow the MSMEs to recover, with available loans of up to P300,000 for each business owner.
The affected businesses are mostly in Luzon, including Albay, Batangas, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, Cavite, Cotabato, Calbayog, Dagupan, Ifugao, Laguna, Masbate, Samar, Sorsogon, Quezon and Quezon City in Metro Manila, as well as some towns in Eastern Samar in the Visayas.
DTI said its regional offices continue to monitor the situation of MSMEs in the affected areas.
Electricity service disruption
Also on Thursday, the National Electrification Administration (NEA) said at least 24 electric cooperatives (ECs) nationwide reported potentially heavy losses in the wake of Kristine.
Initial estimated damage costs to power infrastructure was over P70.25 million, with the Calabarzon, Bicol and Eastern Visayas regions suffering from electricity service disruption.
NEA administrator Antonio Mariano Almeda said the management of the affected ECs are working double time to resume operations as soon as possible.
Data from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council showed a total of 158 areas have declared a state of calamity in the aftermath of Kristine.
Bicol had the most damaged cities and municipalities at 78; followed by Calabarzon, 63; Eastern Visayas, 13; and one area each in the Ilocos, Soccksargen, Cordillera Administrative Region and the National Capital Region.
Almeda said the repair of damaged power lines are ongoing with the coordination of the Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives Association Inc.
In a related development, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian urged NEA to ensure all ECs are compliant with the requirements of the Electric Cooperatives Emergency and Resiliency Fund (Ecerf) Law to mitigate the adverse effects of power disruption from natural calamities such as typhoons.
“The goal of Ecerf is not just to provide funds that ECs can tap for the restoration and rehabilitation of damaged infrastructures following a fortuitous event such as typhoons but to ensure the distribution utilities are resilient to withstand calamities,” Gatchalian said.
According to him, the Ecerf was put in place as a ready fund that can be tapped by ECs for faster restoration of electricity and power facilities damaged by natural calamities.
The fund is administered and managed by NEA.
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