Electric co-ops in the Philippines are putting principle 6 – co-operation among co-ops – into action by donated thousand of electric meters to some of the movement’s struggling businesses.
Around 47,000 electric meters with an estimated value of 47 million Philippine pesos (703,578 GBP) are being donated to two energy co-ops in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
In a meeting on 4 January with the National Electrification’s Adminstration’s leader, Antonio Mariano Almeda, a number of Philippine energy co-ops pledged support for ailing Lanao del Sur Electric Cooperative (LASURECO).
LASURECO is one of two co-ops based in BARMM that are receiving support from fellow energy co-ops, the other being Maguindanao Electric Cooperative (MAGELCO). Both have recently run into financial difficulties, with the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM) reporting last year that LASURECO had accrued 13 billion Philippine pesos (194.7 million GBP) worth of debt, and MAGELCO 3.3 billion Philippine pesos (49.4 million GBP).
In the meeting, the general manager engineers of energy co-ops Batangas I Electric Cooperative and Batangas II Electric Cooperative agreed to donate 10,000 electric meters to LASURECO.
Before the meeting, NEA administrator Almeda met with LASURECO’s general manager Nordjiana Lucman Dipatuan-Ducol, to discuss strategies on how to save the co-op and improve its service to its members.
The Central Luzon Electric Cooperatives Association (CLECA), led by President Reynaldo V. Villanueva, has also offered 10,000 meters to LASURECO.
MAGELCO has been gifted a total of 27,000 electric meters by the Federation of Rural Electric Cooperatives in Region VIII (FRECOR 8) and Central Visayas Electric Cooperatives Association (CEVECA). 15,000 will be provided by FRECOR 8 and 12,00 has been pledged by CEVECA.
Almeda expressed his gratitude to the energy co-ops, and commended the act of generosity as part of their corporate social responsibility.
