Residents of the six unenergized sitios in the three municipalities of Tablas Island in the province of Romblon will no longer have to wait for years as electricity may come to them sooner than later.
Administrator Edgardo Masongsong of the state-run National Electrification Administration (NEA) has recently asked the Tablas Island Electric Cooperative, Inc. (TIELCO) to include these areas in its state-funded projects targeted for this year.
Data from the NEA show there are six sitios that still have no electricity within the franchise area of TIELCO. These are found in the municipalities of Odiongan, Looc, and Calatrava.
“Bakit pa natin hihintayin ang 2020, dapat ‘yung anim na ‘yan pailawan na natin sa 2018, ngayong taon na ito. We will do our best. I will see to it that the remaining six sitios will be energized this year,” said Masongsong.
From 2011 to 2016, the NEA allocated P180.768 million to enable TIELCO to energize 239 sitios under the Sitio Electrification Program (SEP), which benefitted 6,080 households.
Masongsong was the keynote speaker at the Rural Electrification Leaders’ Convergence organized by TIELCO last weekend held at the Virginia Centurione Bracelli School Auditorium in Odiongan, Romblon.
Anchored on the theme “Reinforcing Member-Consumer-Owner’s Involvement in Countryside Development thru Rural Electrification,” the activity brought together some 2,000 participants, mostly officers of Barangay Power Association (BAPA) and MCO organizations.
Masongsong, in his message, spoke about the importance of the MCOs in the affairs of their electric cooperative, especially given their central role in promoting and protecting the gains of rural electrification.
“You have two roles. As member-consumer, you are a customer at the same time you are also an owner of the electric cooperative. So you have to mobilize into a strong movement to protect it,” the NEA chief told participants.
Masongsong also siezed the opportunity to apprise them of the present status of rural electrification in the country, and the efforts of the agency, together with the ECs nationwide, to energize the far-flung communities.
The Rural Electrification Program, since its inception, has lit up 78 provinces, 90 cities, 1,385 municipalities, 36,051 barangays, and 121,324 sitios, benefitting 12.186 million households or about 60 million Filipinos as of December 2017.
Formed in 1988, the BAPA in TIELCO is credited for being instrumental in reducing the systems loss of the electric cooperative and improving its collection efficiency. As of February 2018, Tielco posted a 99.48-percent collection efficiency and 7.89-percent system loss.