1.2 million Mindanao households still without electricity, says lawmaker

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines — Some 1.2 million households in Mindanao remain without electricity, which is lamentable, according to Misamis Oriental 2nd district Representative Juliet Uy.

“That is almost five million people in Mindanao, who have no electricity,” Uy said on Wednesday, during the ceremonial switching of power to some 1,600 households in Northern Mindanao.

She said the situation has been “much worse in Lanao del Sur, where seven out of 10 households has no electricity or access to electricity.”

“(This) is ironic because we get our power from Lake Lanao,” Uy added.

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

The Department of Energy reported it has been energizing villages in Mindanao, as in the case of the 22 sitios in Northern Mindanao.

But according to Uy, given the number of households yet to be energized, the government faces a daunting task of ensuring that the benefit of electricity reaches every household.

She said the backlog in the electrification program could be addressed if the government and the private sector worked hand in hand.

She suggested that the government not only energize each household but also ensure that electricity would be cheap and affordable.

Uy suggested a review of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira) to determine if some of its provisions should be updated.

Dr. Carsten Evers, plant manager of State Power Inc. in Villanueva, Misamis Oriental, said the company has been helping light up homes in many areas of the province.

Evers cited the energization of the 22 sitios in Misamis Oriental, which he said, was part of the company’s corporate social responsibility.

“We are talking about electrification project here and with the help of our partners, we are able to get access to 22 far-flung sitios (sub-villages),” Carsten said.

He said SPI’s electrification project, dubbed “Fostering Rural Electrification and Energization (FREE)” started in 2011.

“It was very successful and now we are expanding in rural areas that would be very difficult to supply because economically is not viable (to connect them to the grid,” Carsten said.

Carsten agreed with Uy’s view that “every household must be energized.”

“Rural electrification is very close to our heart, and FREE is one of our major CSR to accelerate rural electrification by 2016,” Maria Theresa Allegrio, SPI community relations and public affairs manager, said.

Manuel Llaneza, DoE Mindanao Field Office director said that DoE has been working hard to fulfill its mandate of energizing 17,000 sitios by 2017.

“Our target is to connect 90 percent of the country’s household to the electricity grid,” Llaneza said.

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