State-run National Electrification Administration (NEA) on Monday exhorted all electric cooperatives (ECs) in the country to constantly strive for the improvement of their services to their respective communities.
NEA Administrator Edgardo Masongsong made the statement after President Rodrigo Duterte recently expressed his sentiments regarding the frequent power outages in the province of Palawan.
In his remarks at the Subaraw Biodiversity Festival in Puerto Princesa on November 10, President Duterte said he would get a new electricity provider for Palawan should the local officials fail to resolve the province’s energy issues until the end of the year.
The Palawan Electric Cooperative (Paleco) is the lone distributor of electricity in the province, covering Puerto Princesa City, Narra, Aborlan, Quezon, Brooke’s Point, Balabac, Rizal, Roxas, Taytay, El Nido, Araceli, Dumaran, Cuyo, Magsaysay, Bataraza, San Vicente, Cagayancillo, Agutaya and Espanola.
In a statement, Masongsong said the ECs, including Paleco, should step up efforts to improve reliability and quality of electricity service provision to rural areas, as the Duterte government embarks on a massive infrastructure drive nationwide.
“The sentiments of the President should be taken as a challenge to Paleco and to all electric cooperatives in the country. Quality service is a must. This is also auspicious in the face of an unprecedented government-led construction boom via ‘Build, Build, Build’,” he said.
“Our electric cooperatives must sufficiently provide for the power requirements of the administration’s flagship endeavors and serve as an economic backbone while the program expands to the rural areas,” the NEA chief added.
The NEA, a government-owned and -controlled corporation, has the supervisory powers over all ECs across the country, as mandated under Republic Act 10531, otherwise known as the “National Electrification Administration Reform Act of 2013.” ###