In late 2013 until 2014, Lopez-led geothermal leader Energy Development Corporation (EDC) was all hands on deck as it helped Ormoc and the Municipality of Kananga rise up after it was devastated by Super Typhoon Yolanda, said to be the strongest one to ever hit the country.
This, the company was doing as it was also building back a better Leyte geothermal facility that was also the worst hit among all Energy Development Corporation projects. It was able to build a typhoon-resilient facility in Leyte, which happens to be its biggest and the world’s largest wet steam field. It was also able to do the same for its other power plants to ensure that it will be able to provide uninterrupted clean power even during calamities.
Today, most of the Philippines and almost all countries around the world are plagued by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), an unseen enemy with still no known cure, and though Ormoc and the Municipality of Kananga still have no confirmed cases, both areas have become COVID-19 ready with the help of various organizations like EDC.
The company has lent two 40-foot air conditioned container vans each to Kananga and Ormoc City that they can use as isolation centers or temporary shelter for their medical frontliners.
Kananga Mayor Matt Torres thanked EDC and has personally inspected the vans immediately after they were turned over to him and his team this week. He also thanked the company for the 310 sacks of rice that it has donated for the residents of Kananga. Mayor Torres has said that this donation will help them ensure food security for their municipality during the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).
Ormoc City led by Mayor Richard Gomez has likewise expressed their gratitude to EDC for providing cash assistance amounting to P500,000.00 along with 100 pieces of N95 masks, 2,000 surgical gloves, and 100 Tyvek cover-all suits and 400 pcs of washable mask through the Ormoc Chamber of Commerce. The latter was produced by an EDC-sponsored cooperative named Lim-ao Integrated Farmers for Empowerment (LIFE) that has temporarily shifted from farming and bags making to sewing washable cloth masks and PPEs for the medical frontliners in the area.
“These trying times call for all of us to pool together our resources to help those in need. While we, in EDC, are taking all the necessary precautions to protect ourselves and our families from this virus, we are likewise doing our best to help our partner communities in any way we can, especially the vulnerable who are currently out of work due to the Community Quarantine,” said Erwin B. Magallanes, EDC’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) head in Leyte.
For this reason, EDC’s Leyte employees are also pooling together their personal resources to raise funds to supplement the needs of their daily contractors (security guards, office cleaners, drivers, etc.) particularly on their PPEs. The Leyte Ladies club lead the production of face shields for their added protection. The Leyte CSR also provided 350 facemasks to the frontliners of the host barangays.
Assorted goods, masks, gloves, and alcohol were also provided by Magallanes’ team to those who are manning checkpoints in Kananga and Ormoc City.
In response to both Kananga and Ormoc City’s call for every one to do their part in this fight against COVID-19, EDC’s battle cry is “tindog Leyte, dili mo namo pasagdan” (rise Leyte, we will not let you down) as it commits to continue providing uninterrupted supply of clean, renewable power to its customers as it augments the needs of its partner communities to the best of its ability.
EDC’s Leyte geothermal facility that straddles between Ormoc City and the Municipality of Kananga currently supplies more than 30% of the country’s installed geothermal capacity. It is also responsible for putting EDC and the Philippines on the map as the world’s 3rd largest geothermal producer.
The Energy Development Corporation (EDC) is a pioneer in generating 100% clean, renewable, and reliable power as an electricity supplier in the Philippines for over 40 years. With power plants all over Visayas and Mindanao, the company is one of the biggest producers of geothermal energy in Asia and is expanding its reach in the international market, allowing it to offer customers affordable energy rates. EDC also strives to provide the best customer service it can to all its clients by having helpful salespeople and easy to understand contracts. Because of all of this, it is poised to become the premier supplier of electricity for the Philippines’ Green Energy Option Program. EDC takes its mission as a renewable energy provider seriously and goes beyond sustainability by investing in programs that enhance the environment and empower its partner communities, thereby fostering regenerative development. The company has also been working toward being carbon-neutral by improving its energy efficiency, as well as implementing various greening projects to ensure that its mission to provide future generations with a better life remains intact.
