As the Marawi crisis lingers on in Lanao del Sur, the National Electrification Administration (NEA) has approved the P6-million calamity loan of Task Force Duterte (TFD) Lanao Sur Power for its operational expenditures.
NEA Deputy Administrator and concurrent TFD Lanao Sur Power chair lawyer Goldelio Rivera announced when the agency conducted its second round of relief operations for the struggling Lanao del Sur Electric Cooperative, Inc. (LASURECO).
The P6-million loan is payable in 10 years with a maximum grace period of one year at a 3.25% annual interest rate. The money would come from the Internally Generated Funds of the agency, according to the NEA Accounts Management and Guarantee Department.
This financial assistance resulted from a referendum held earlier by the NEA Board of Administrators, authorizing the release of such amount based on the approved master plan for LASURECO, which is currently under the helm of TFD Lanao Sur Power.
In the interest of transparency, NEA Administrator Edgardo Masongsong explained it would be disbursed straight to the account of LASURECO on an installment basis and proper accounting would be strictly observed.
“Ang pinag-usapan namin ipapasok sa account (‘yung pondo) para gamitin sa operations, pang-suweldo, pambili ng gasolina papunta doon sa area at kung ano pa mang operating expenses na gagastusan,” Masongsong told Lasureco employees in Iligan City.
The NEA chief said this is precisely to avoid issues like what happened in the aftermath of super typhoon ‘Yolanda’ when former government officials have been questioned as to where the money went.
Masongsong and Rivera came back to Mindanao to discuss updates on the rehabilitation plan for LASURECO with TFD Lanao Sur Power co-chairman Akmad Mamalinta and the rest of its members.
The Administrator later on led another ceremonial turn-over of relief goods and donations for Lasureco hosted by the Misamis Oriental I Rural Electric Service Cooperative, Inc. (Moresco I) at its Training Center in Laguindingan, Misamis Oriental.
The event yielded some P435,000 more in cash aid from the different Mindanao-based electric cooperatives while those in Central Visayas have generated contributions amounting to P1,034,000, Masongsong said.
“With this assistance, the NEA hopes that Task Force Duterte Lanao Sur Power exercises prudence and accountability in their expenditures to ensure that these funds are really spent for what they are intended for and achieves their intended goals,” he underscored.
This is on top of the several hundreds of boxes of in-kind gifts, containing rice, canned goods, bottled water and personal hygiene kits donated by various public and private energy companies.
Joining the NEA once again in its most recent humanitarian mission were its allied organizations and industry partners including the National Center of Electric Consumers, Inc. (NCECCO), Association of Mindanao Rural Electric Cooperatives, Inc. (AMRECO), Rural Electric Cooperatives Board of Directors Association (RECOBEDA), National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), San Miguel Global Power Holdings Corporation (SMC) and GNPower Kauswagan.