Getting struck by lightning can be fatal. About 300 million volts or 30,000 amps in a typical lightning flash are too much for a human body to withstand.
Early this month, a wooden house near an open field in Catanauan, Quezon was struck by lightning. Jomar Funtilar, 36, and his daughter Jonah, 9, were inside the house in Barangay Tagbacan Ilaya, washing dishes after a meal, when a bolt that hit its foundation swiped them, GMA Regional TV “Balitang Southern Tagalog” reported.
Neighbors who saw the lightning strike rushed to the house and found the two sprawled lifeless on the floor.
In Solano, Nueva Vizcaya, a resident of Barangay San Juan nearly suffered an electric shock in July but survived.
No lightning struck Jayson Aggasid, but the electricity billing he received from the Nueva Vizcaya Electric Cooperative (Nuvelco) on 28 July gave him a jolt. His Nuvelco bill exceeded a whopping P6.7 million.
The bill, which was printed on thermal paper, went viral after it was posted by Maricel Aggasid on Facebook. It showed the following breakdown of charges: Generation — P4.27 million, transmission — P866,262, distribution — P587,165, RFSC (reinvestment fund for sustainable capital expenditures) — P149,276, subsidy discount — P10,267, universal — P196,119 and value-added tax — P700,549.
Aggasid immediately went to the power distributor’s office in Dupax del Sur to complain of the overcharge.
Nuvelco admitted the erroneous billing, blaming it on human error. The company’s general manager, Frederico Salvador, apologized to the customer and explained that their meter reader tripled the number in the reader device, according to Bombo Radyo Cauayan.
WJG @tribunephl_wjg