MANILA — With the countrys expanded rural electrification program reaching the 95.26 percent level as of the first quarter of this year, the Arroyo administration is confident that its target of energizing all of the 41,945 barangays nationwide will be attained by 2008.
According to the Department of Energy (DOE), a total of 39,955 barangays across the country now have access to electricity services, leaving just 1,990 more barangays still to be energized.
Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla said the governments expanded rural electrification program has improved significantly under the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Of the 1,990 barangays still waiting for electricity, 1,106 barangays have been programmed for electrification this year and the rest in 2008 to achieve 100 percent energization, the DOE said.
Among the latest barangays to be covered by the electrification program was Barangay Balimbingan in Tukuran, Zamboanga del Sur.
The energization of the remote barangay was made possible through the Alliance for Mindanao Off-grid Renewable Energy (AMORE) Program.
The DOE said Barangay Balimbingan is “populated by the poorest of the poor” and it takes more than three hours to reach it by foot from the center of the town.
AMORE is a cooperative program of the DOE, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Mirant Philippines Foundation, Winrock International,and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
To mark the attainment of the 95.26 percent barangay electrification level, President Arroyo led the ceremonial switch-on of the 39,955 energized barangays in Malacanang last May 4. (OPS) davaotoday.com
