He could have waited for the floodwaters to subside. But malasakit (compassion) for his fellow Palaweños and the immediate need to restore the Palawan network propelled 58-year-old Modesto “Dong” Q. Perez and his team to walk on the flooded road, strewn with enormous trunks of uprooted trees, a day after Super Typhoon Odette hit the province.
When Odette made its landfall over Puerto Princesa City and the municipality of Roxas in Palawan on December 17, 2021, Dong was monitoring the typhoon at the PLDT Puerto Princesa office.
He recounted that he and his Network Field Services colleagues Fidel De Guzman and Dennis Menisterio had to walk on floodwaters to reach Barangay Babuyan where the Domestic Fiber Optic Network (DFON) cable was damaged by Odette.
“We tested and assessed the DFON cable cut and looked for immediate solutions to restore our DFON link and our connectivity because at that time, we lost all connectivity in Palawan,” he said. “Bawat masalubong naming mga taong naglalakad, ang hinaing nila, paano nila makokontak ang pamilya at kamag-anak nila, nag-aalala sila. (People we met on the streets lamented how they can contact their families and relatives, they were all worried.) Our aim at that time was to restore the Palawan network as soon as possible,” Dong related.
As team head of PLDT South Metro Manila Fixed Field Services – Palawan Area, Dong worked long hours with his team to restore connectivity in Palawan, where around 100 kilometers of DFON cables and 40,000 kilometers of fiber-to-the-home and fiber connecting Smart cell sites were damaged.
A true blue Palaweño, Dong observed that “a super typhoon like Odette is very rare to Palawan. This is the first time that we experienced this kind of storm, especially in Puerto Princesa City and municipalities like Roxas, Dumaran, and Taytay.”
He said that despite the overall devastation, “Life must go on for Palaweños, although people suffer because of the destruction of properties and loss of livelihood, especially for fishermen and farmers. Now, most of those affected are hoping for assistance from the government.”
Currently, Dong estimates that 90% of Palawan’s connectivity has been restored, either temporarily or permanently. “We are almost back to normal but sometimes we encounter outages due to clearing activities of some agencies.”
Having attained their goal of immediately restoring the Palawan network, Dong’s team continues to work towards providing Palaweños the most reliable connectivity to their families and loved ones, especially after enduring the wrath of Typhoon Odette.
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