Electrification
EVERYBODY agrees that the provision of electric services will yield more opportunities for improved quality of life in far-flung communities across the Philippines.
It is, therefore, heartening to know that the national government’s revitalized electrication program is aimed at accelerating the lighting of remote communities.
Note, however, that hundreds of thousands of households in the Philippines are still without electricity.
A survey conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) in 2020 showed that 479,029 households were still being deprived of steady supply of power.
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian of Valenzuela City said the households were in “missionary areas,” or off-grid communities.
That’s why Senator Gatchalian urged the Department of Energy (DOE) to support the establishment of more microgrid systems in remote areas.
“The DOE must persist in efforts to advocate for the implementation of microgrids in areas that lack access to reliable power and are underserved,” said Gatchalian.
Microgrids are a critical infrastructure for the electrification of rural communities, according to the soft-spoken but hard-working senator.
There’s a need to speed up the tempo of economic growth of the marginalized sectors, like fishermen and farmers, living in far-flung communities and unelectrified barangays.
Let’s act now – and fast.
