 |
| File photo: Power Philippines |
Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco rallied electric cooperatives to maintain a sustainable
and efficient power supply in the countryside.
Velasco, as chairperson of the House Committee on Energy in
the current 18th and in the previous 17th Congress, said economic progress is
hinged on rural electrification.
“I have witnessed how powerfully transformative access to
electricity in the rural areas can be,” Velasco said on the occasion of the
50th anniversary of the National Electrification Administration (NEA) which
coincided with the month-long celebration of the National Electrification
Awareness Month.
Velasco, who is also the co-chair of the Joint Congressional
Energy Commission, stressed that all Filipinos should have access to reliable,
sustainable, efficient, and affordable electricity.
“It is the only way for our country to progress
economically. It is the only way to bring genuine prosperity to the
countryside,” he said.
Velasco also urged electric cooperatives to focus on the few
remaining barangays in the country that have not been energized.
He said that since 1969, NEA and the Electric Cooperatives
have succeeded in energizing 90 cities, 1,385 municipalities covering 78
provinces in the country. A total of 36,057 of the 36,065 of the barangays have
been energized. That is 99 percent of the barangays nationwide.
He said electric cooperatives and their consumers hold the
proverbial torch in rural electrification.
“A few hundred meters na lang nasa finish line na tayo.
Let's go for it,” he said.
