The National Electrification Administration (NEA) recognized the role played by the Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives Association, Inc. (PHILRECA) in the restoration of electricity in provinces hit by the recent typhoons.
NEA Administrator Edgardo Masongsong issued the statement on Tuesday, December 1, as he congratulated PHILRECA on the occasion of its 41st Annual General Membership Meeting (AGMM) and Year-End Strategic Conference.
The deployment of power restoration teams, equipped with boom trucks, utility vehicles and necessary equipment, was done in coordination with PHILRECA and its regional organizations, under the supervision of the NEA.
PHILRECA, the umbrella organization of 121 electric cooperatives (ECs), formally opened its 41st AGMM and Year-End Strategic Conference on Tuesday, with the theme “Charging for the Future: Strengthening the One EC MCO Movement Towards a Resilient Rural Electrification Program.”
The virtual event, which will run until Friday (December 4), gathers power co-ops, their officials and employees, as well as leaders of different EC organizations to discuss current issues concerning the rural electrification sector, and to ensure that their strategies are aligned with their goals, as well as to recognize their 2019 accomplishments.
In his message, Masongsong acknowledged the efforts of the organization in helping its member-ECs and ensuring that no one gets left behind as the rural electrification sector rebuilds after the successive typhoons that struck the country.
The NEA chief cited in particular the immediate deployment of the ‘Power Restoration Rapid Deployment’ Task Force Kapatid to calamity-stricken provinces to assist the ECs there in the power restoration and rehabilitation activities.
Last month, nearly 400 line workers and support personnel from 54 ECs in Luzon and Visayas left their home turfs to help restore power and normalcy in Bicol Region, Marinduque and Mindoro provinces following typhoons Quinta, Rolly, and Ulysses.
PHILRECA and the 121 ECs, the administrator said, have also been a dependable partner of the NEA in pursuing the country’s total electrification and sustainable rural development.
The deployment of power restoration teams, equipped with boom trucks, utility vehicles and necessary equipment, was done in coordination with PHILRECA and its regional organizations, under the supervision of the NEA.
Masongsong said these “warriors of light” have been working tirelessly these past few weeks despite the risks to support restoration and recovery efforts in typhoon-affected areas. He also offered a moment of silence to honor fallen line workers.
PHILRECA and the 121 ECs, the administrator said, have also been a dependable partner of the NEA in pursuing the country’s total electrification and sustainable rural development.
While the agency and the partner-ECs have made significant strides in implementing the Rural Electrification Program (REP) in the past five decades, there is still more that needs to be done, such as the energization of the over 12,000 sitios or 1.7 million households across the country, Masongsong said.
“We have a major role to play in nation-building. Right now, the task at hand is the fulfillment of the Rural Electrification Program,” the NEA chief told delegates at the 41st PHILRECA AGMM.
“Rural electrification is not just about construction of lines reaching the last household in the EC franchise area. It is about social and economic development in the countryside. It is about sustainable rural development through rural electrification,” he said.