Party-list lawmakers are urging their colleagues in the House of Representatives to channel P28.5 billion for rural electrification.
Rep. Michael Romero of 1-Pacman is pushing for total autonomy of the National Electrification Administration (NEA) to provide electricity to 2 million households.
The proposal was supported by Rep. Presley de Jesus of Philreca, Rep. Adrano Ebcas of Ako Padayon, Rep. Godofredo Guya of Recoboda and Rep. Sergio Dagooc of APEC.
Romero, head of the party-list coalition, said a P28.5-billion financial support could be enough for NEA to provide electricity to 13 million individuals within a period of just three years.
According to Romero, the estimated 13 million individuals living without electricity translate to around 19,000 sitios.
“As of this very moment that we speak, more than 2 million households in the rural areas still live in the dark. This translates to roughly 16 percent of the households in the entire country,” said Romero following his privilege speech on the matter.
“This means the over 2 million households that live in the dark cannot conveniently use certain tools and appliances in their day-to-day living. This also means a lower level of safety and security for the family members that have no access to power,” he added.
Under the current set up, NEA, an attached agency of the Department of Energy, is tasked with the implementation of the Rural Electrification Program through viable rural electric cooperatives.
With just P5 billion in allocation in the past three years, the lawmaker said, NEA and the electric cooperatives were able to connect 1,931 sitios to the grid under the Sitio Electrification Program, overshooting the target of energizing 1,817 sitios in 2018.
“A combination of microgrids, minigrids, renewable-energy tech, and inclusion of missionary power projects among the investment priorities can be the potent solution mix to give electricity to over 2 million households,” said Romero.
“Microgrids powered by renewable-energy sources can bring light to the darkness of far-flung sitios. For locally available technical services, the state universities and colleges, as well as tech-voc institutes can provide outreach training,” he added.
Romero also urged the Board of Investments to add missionary electrification to their investments priorities programs because this is one development goal for which we need investments.
“The universal charge for missionary electrification is not enough. A combination of reasonable state subsidies and private-sector investment as part of corporate social responsibility programs can bridge the funding gap,” Romero said.