President Rodrigo Duterte recently led the ceremonial switch-on for P187.54 million worth of electrification projects in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) that will provide electricity to 38, 044 households.
During his visit on October 29, the President vowed to improve the situation in the Moro land. The Comprehensive Reform and Development Agenda includes electrification.
The projects were led by the Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Electrification Administration (NEA).
21 sitios, mostly in conflict-affected areas, will serve as benefeciaries. ARMM Governor Mujiv Hataman led the ceremony with the President.
This is in addition to the electrification projects worth P610 million spent in the past years.
Only 50 percent of the sitios in the region are energized, DOE Secretary Alfonso Cusi said.
“We have to find ways how can we energize all the sitios and households in the ARMM so that everybody will be given the same level of opportunity,” he said.
Cusi added the government will empower electric cooperatives to enable them to fulfill their roles in addressing the energy crisis and providing reliable and cheap electricity.
Under the Sitio Electrification Program (SEP), the NEA has spent an estimated P337.01 million in providing electricity to 1, 775 household consumers in 302 sitios.
The Barangay Line Enhancement Program (BLEP) has energized 266 households in 40 sitios, with 22 more projects lined up. P153.64 million has gone to the project, aimed at giving electricity connection to off-grid areas with solar or small generator sets.
3, 689 households have benefited from the DOE’s Nationwide Intensification of Household Electrification (NIHE) in Sulu and Maguindanao last year with a total cost of P14.99 million.
The President gave the Maguindanao Electric Cooperative P13.8 million to implement the NIHE program in the province.