Brownouts return to Calbayog City

Capoocan, Calbayog City

Last night the electricity was off in Capoocan from 6pm to 9pm local time. When I called the Samelco substation, they said it was a “rotating” brownout from Napocor. This morning, the power is out in Brgy Central of Calbayog City. I contacted Samelco’s Capoocan substation again, and was told this is a national problem, and maybe it’s Napocor sending our power to Luzon.

A search in Google indicates the lack of power is because the water levels are still low in the nations hydro-electric dams. Even though we have been getting some rain in June, we are still feeling the effects of the El Nino. You can read more about the situation in Luzon at this ABS-CBN article, and for Cebu there is more info at this globalnation.inquirer.net article.

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Calbayog Diocese Centennial

The Diocese of Calbayog City, Samar, turned 100 years old today. The Diocese was created in 1910 by Pope Pius X, making it the oldest Diocese in Samar Province.

Papal Ambassador, Archbishop Joseph Edward Adams, the Papal Nuncio, led the Centennial Thanksgiving Mass at the Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral. The Mass, which was closed to the public, was attended by Archbishops, Bishops, and Priests from Cebu and Bicol, as well as the 31 parishes of the Diocese of Calbayog. Several important politicians, and military personnel were also on hand. I personally saw Congressman Reynaldo Uy, Mayor Mel Senen Sarmiento, 8th ID Commander Major General Arthur I Tabaquero, and Lieutenant General Hilario Atendido of the AFP Joint Staff. At the end of the Mass, messages were read from Pope Benedict XVI and President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who were unable to attend.

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Immigration Forums Moved

As we continue to develop the larger Expat2Phils.com site, we have decided to move the immigration forums to Expat2Phils.com/Forum. This is a more logical place for them, as immigration is national. Please join our discussion forums there.

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New Look

Samar.Expat2Phils.com is getting a new look!

The new design is just the next step in a series of changes coming to Expat2Phils.com. As the software we use, WordPress, evolves, so will our opportunity to make this a true social network of expats living in the Philippines.

In addition to the new look, some of our pages are changing location. The Samar News and Weather pages are now located under the Samar tab on the menu. The Calbayog Airlines page is now under Samar > Airports. Our Contact Form has also moved. It is now under the About Us menu.

We are excited about these new changes, and hope you, our viewers, will be equally happy.

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Brownouts for Valentines

The visayas are currently experiencing a shortage of electricity. This is due to various power plants being down for maintenance. Here in Western Samar, we will be experiencing rotating brownouts at least until February 16th. I visited Samelco II’s Capoocan sub station, where I was shown a copy of the brownout schedule.  The scedule lists three time slots per day, with brownouts alternating between two areas.

The first area includes:
Calbayog City Proper & Barangays,
Capoocan to Minlawaan Bridge
Capoocan to Sta. Margarita Proper

This area has brownouts scheduled for the following time slots:
February 10, 2010: 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM; 5:15 PM – 8:00 PM
February 11, 2010: 1:00 PM – 5:15 PM
February 12, 2010: 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM; 5:15 PM – 8:00 PM
February 13, 2010: 1:00 PM – 5:15 PM
February 14, 2010: 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM; 5:15 PM – 8:00 PM
February 15, 2010: 1:00 PM – 5:15 PM
February 14, 2010: 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM; 5:15 PM – 8:00 PM

The second area includes:
Talahib to Lonoy
Oquendo District, Tinambacan District
Sta. Margarita Barangays
Gandara, San Jorge, Pagsanghan, Matuguinao, Tarangnan

This area has brownouts scheduled for the following time slots:
February 10, 2010: 1:00 PM – 5:15 PM
February 11, 2010: 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM; 5:15 PM – 8:00 PM
February 12, 2010: 1:00 PM – 5:15 PM
February 13, 2010: 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM; 5:15 PM – 8:00 PM
February 14, 2010: 1:00 PM – 5:15 PM
February 15, 2010: 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM; 5:15 PM – 8:00 PM
February 16, 2010: 1:00 PM – 5:15 PM

For those living in other area’s, you should be able to contact your local power supplier for a list of scheduled outages.

You can read more about these brownouts in the following articles:
Visayas to suffer week-long brownouts
Brownouts in Cebu to intensify starting Monday
Leyte-Samar endures power curtailment since February 1
Visayas grid deficit due to shutdowns

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Manila Trip

We just returned from a trip to Manila, to file my annual report with the Bureau Of Immigration.

While we were in Manila, we stayed at the Swagman Hotel in Ermita. Their location is easy walking distance from the U.S. Embassy, and a short taxi ride from Intermurals. The Swagman will pick you up at the airport for free, and bring you back there for your return flight. I find the workers to be very friendly and helpful, but the building is rather old. Sometimes, when taking a shower, the water keeps changing tempurature, and the towels are rather old and dingy looking. My favorite part of staying at the Swagman is their Outback Bar/Restaurant. They have good Australian and Philipino foods, ranging from real steaks to crispy pata. What I like the least about this location are the many street hawkers outside the door! It seems like everytime I walk outside, someone is trying to sell me a cheap immitation rolex,  belt made in Italy (street in Marikina), or expired viagra. Also watch out for the guys with regular cars, claiming to be taxi drivers. Their prices are much higher than what you will pay with a meter.

One day I went out to Pizza Hut, and I saw this child bathing in a tub along the sidewalk. While I wouldn’t find this surprising in Samar, I was surprised to see that in a major city. Here is a picture:

Child-Bathing-On-Manila-Sidewalk

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