The National Electrification Administration (NEA) has lit up 2,239 sitios (villages) under its rural electrification program as of the third quarter, as part of efforts to accelerate modern energy use in the countryside.
Of the total, about 1,276 sitios were energized from July to September using recent releases under NEA’s budget, adding to the 898 sitios lit up in the January-June period and 65 others that benefited from leftover resources from 2012, according to NEA data.
NEA director for public affairs Judith Alferez said in a text message that P3.752 billion released from the agency’s budget went toward the electrification of 1,276 sitios from July to September. Such funding came from government appropriations released last July.
Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho L. Petilla earlier said that NEA was accelerating its rural electrification program starting this year.
Government wants to speed up implementation of the program and finish the electrification of 32,441 sitios by end-2015. The initial target year was 2016, Petilla said.
Petilla also said the government was adopting a new scheme to fast-track the electrification projects spearheaded by NEA.
“Even before the money is released, we will bid out and award the contract for the projects. So, we are taking out the lag time. With that, we intend to complete more than 10,000 sitios before the end of the year,” Petilla said.
NEA data showed that this year’s expanded budget of P7.383 billion will be used to energize 10,394 sitios all over the country. A sitio is a community that is even smaller than a barangay (village).