The National Electrification Administration (NEA) is allocating P35.57 billion in 2017 as it embarks on a massive electrification campaign targeting 23,710 towns in far-flung areas in the country.
The program is a landmark effort of NEA Administrator Edgardo R. Masongsong who characterizes it as the realization of the agency’s mandate “to bring electricity, empowerment, business and social impetus to our countrymen.”
“Electric power is the engine of economic development. We can use various technological tools because of electricity. Commerce and economic activity grows because power is available for business and consumers alike. We develop greater social interaction and build a greater sense of community because of electrification,” Masongsong said.
The NEA chief explained that the agency would be spending P1.5 million per locality for the electrification program that they had mapped out for this year, all in an effort to assist and realize the Duterte administration’s development goals for the next six years and beyond.
“Our goal is to ensure availability of electricity in every area under our jurisdiction, because we believe that rural electrification equals rural development,” Masongsong added.
The government’s comprehensive electrification program covers areas serviced by various electric cooperatives, which the NEA is actively boosting and supporting.
A number of these coops in critical service areas in the Visayas and Mindanao include the Samar I Electric Cooperative, Inc., Eastern Samar Electric Cooperative, Inc., Northern Samar Electric Cooperative, Inc., Busuanga Island Electric Cooperative, Inc., Occidental Mindoro Electric Cooperative Inc., Iloilo III Electric Cooperative, Northern Negros Electric Cooperative, Inc., Bohol II Electric Cooperative and the Surigao del Sur II Electric Cooperative.
Masongsong was optimistic and upbeat about the goals the agency has set.
“We are strengthening electric cooperatives as key conduits for electrification in target areas. With NEA’s reinvigorated and fast-tracked systems under its new leadership, we’re confident that we will be hitting our short, medium and long-term goals.”