SPECIAL FEATURE
Father Silva was among the legendary prime movers of positive change behind the household electrification strategies that transformed rural landscapes and remote communities once invaded by shadows.
The rural electrification movement is a call to serve, uplift, and liberate. This vision was profoundly championed by the late Father Francisco G. Silva, once the NEA Administrator, soon became the General Manager and partner advocate of the three (3) CEBECOs, a towering figure in the country’s rural electrification success stories.
Father Silva’s priesthood was a vocation of action, where his pulpit stretched out from the the church walls to reach the darkest corners of the nation. Under his stewardship, electrification became a mission of love, faith, and service, a crusade to eradicate poverty, empower the poor, and modernize rural communities.
In alignment with the movement and the national directive to achieve total electrification, CEBECO III stands resolute as a key enabler of positive social transformation. With our steadfast mission to bring light to every home, the cooperative extends its reach to ensure that even the most geographically isolated communities are integrated into the national development framework.
In February 2025, CEBECO III intensified its implementation of the Household Electrification Program (HEP), providing electricity to 250 previously underserved households in Aloguinsan, Cebu. This milestone marks just the beginning, with this number steadily rising as the program progresses. These households, long deprived of electricity, now gained access to the advantages of reliable power.
The EC Internally Generated Funds (EC/IGF) provide the financial backbone of this purpose-driven undertaking. Unlike government-subsidized programs, the EC/IGF is an independent, self-sustaining financial mechanism derived from the cooperative’s operations. These funds are strategically reinvested in infrastructure expansion, ensuring long-term viability in delivering electrification projects, particularly in geographically isolated and underserved areas.
These funds are strategically reinvested in infrastructure expansion, ensuring long-term viability in delivering electrification projects, particularly in geographically isolated and underserved areas.
The implementation of the Household Electrification Program is CEBECO III’s enduring commitment to our corporate mandate and mission to assist in the development of the rural area by providing efficient, reliable, safe power service at the least possible cost to the communities in the coverage area.
On the onlook of forthcoming plans to expedite and intensify electrification efforts, CEBECO III works in direct compliance with the Department of Energy (DOE) ER 1-94 Program.
This initiative provides support to host communities, including Toledo City and other localities within CEBECO III’s service areas, where energy-generating facilities such as Cebu Energy Development Corporation (CEDC), Therma Visayas, Inc. (TVI), and Citicore Renewable Energy Corporation (CREC) are located.
Pursuant to ER 1-94, these communities are allocated a financial share of ₱0.01/kWh from electricity sales, ensuring that local stakeholders equitably benefit from power generation operations while fostering socio-economic and infrastructure.
In parallel with ER 1-94, CEBECO III continues to heighten as well the relevance of stringent implementation of one of the National Electrification Administration’s legacy projects, the Sitio Electrification Program (SEP), in far-flung communities. Having achieved a 100% level of electrification under the NEA’s established criteria, the cooperative remains devoted to its continuous pursuit, considering the dynamic challenges of the undertaking to be our noble call for the people.
With the SEP in full momentum, CEBECO III is aggressively accelerating the execution of line works for the 72 sitios, composed of 1, 120 household beneficiaries, steering the initiative toward completion before the set target date. CEBECO III’s progressive roll-out is deeply rooted in the principles of good governance, anchored in the leadership of NEA Administrator Antonio Mariano C. Almeda.
CEBECO III keeps itself abreast in mobilizing resources, harnessing technical expertise, and strengthening partnerships to stretch out power to the farthest reaches of the countryside. Electrification is more than just connectivity for it is the foundation of opportunity and a driver of economic progress, and we are entitled to it. CEBECO III will never waver in its commitment to lighten homes because
Authored by: Ella Mae P. Fabroa – CEBECO III
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