House wiring project benefits 26 houses in Naga, Cebu

Some residents in Barangay Lanas, City of Naga, in southern Cebu will now have access to electricity after Visayan Electric (Veco) held a ceremonial ‘switch-on’ with the Department of Energy (DOE) and a power plant company in the city on Thursday, March 6.

CEBU CITY, Philippines — At least 26 houses in Barangay Lanas, City of Naga, in southern Cebu, will now have access to electricity.

This was made possible through the Visayan Electric Company’s (Veco) house wiring project under the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Energy Regulations (ER) 1-94 program, which is designed to help local communities.

The program aims to assist communities with energy-generating facilities, such as Naga City, where the Korea Electric Power Corp. (Kepco) power plant is located.

Through ER 1-94, host communities receive a financial benefit of P0.01/kWh from electricity sales by generating companies.

According to Engr. Raul Lucero, chief operating officer of Veco, the electric utility company received a total of P28,245,589.37 in electrification funds from the DOE, which will be used for house wiring projects in Veco’s franchise area.

The 26 houses in Barangay Lanas are the pilot beneficiaries of the project. They are among the 3,933 households identified by Veco as potential beneficiaries.

The first phase of the project’s implementation will cover 2,013 beneficiaries. Of this number, 1,925 are in Naga City, while 718 households are in San Fernando.

“The electrification fund, mao na’y directly gihatag didto sa mga distribution utilities, like this in case, diri sa Naga kay [sila] man ang franchise area sa Veco,” DOE Visayas Field Office Director Renante Sevilla said.

(The electrification fund is directly given to distribution utilities, like in this case, here in Naga because it is within Veco’s franchise area)

The beneficiaries were delighted during the switch-on ceremony on March 6 because they said they would finally have lights in their homes.

“Nalipay gyud kay natuman nagyud ang among gipangandoy nga matuman nagyud nga musiga ang amoa,” said Angel Mae Alfante, one of the beneficiaries.

(We are truly happy because our long-awaited dream of having electricity has finally come true)

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Alfante shared that when she got married in 2020, their house had no electricity, and they only used candles at night.

“Kung mahitabo nagyud nga ma-implement nagyud ni unya pasigaan nagyung kaning among 26 na mga balay naa sa listahan, musamot gyud ang among kalipay,” said Emily Baricuatro, barangay captain of Lanas.

(If this project is fully implemented and all 26 houses on the list finally get electricity, our happiness will be even greater)

The electric utility company clarified that only the wiring project is free, while the electricity bill will be shouldered by the households. /clorenciana