A party-list lawmaker is proposing for the National Electrification Administration (NEA) to be included in the council recently established by the government to ensure the successful implementation of the “Balik Probinsya” program.
Rep. Presley de Jesus of the Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives Association (PHILRECA) Party-list made this call as he welcomes the institutionalization of the “Balik Probinsya” program aimed at decongesting the National Capital Region (NCR) amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
The Balik Probinsya, Bagong Pag-asa Council was created to ensure a “whole-of-government action” in the program’s implementation.
De Jesus said he also intends to file a resolution to propose the inclusion of the NEA — a state-run agency that has supervision on the 121 electric cooperatives (ECs) in the country – to the Balik Probinsya, Bagong Pag-asa Council. He stressed that sustainable development in the countryside cannot be achieved without rural electrification.
The PHILRECA representative, at the same time, assured the rural electrification sector’s full cooperation in the implementation of the “Balik Probinsya” program.
He said that ECs from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao have been a reliable partner of the national government over the past five decades in its efforts to spur economic and social development in the regions.
President Rodrigo Duterte signed Executive Order (EO) No. 114 institutionalizing the “Balik Probinsya, Bagong Pag-asa” (BP2) program on May 6.
It aims to “ensure balanced regional development and equitable distribution of wealth, resources and opportunities through policies and programs that boost countryside development and inclusive growth, provide adequate social services, and promote full employment, industrialization, and an improved quality of life in rural areas.”
The Balik Probinsya, Bagong Pag-asa Council, chaired by the Executive Secretary and co-chaired by the Socio-Economic Planning secretary and the National Economic and Development Authority director general, has also been created to ensure “whole-of-government action” on the implementation of the program.
“The uncontrolled upsurge of population in the NCR brings to the fore longstanding issues on the lack of viable and sustainable employment opportunities in the countryside, unbalanced regional development, and unequal distribution of wealth,” EO 114 stated.
“To reverse migration to the NCR and other congested metropolises, as well as to attain rural prosperity through equitable distribution of wealth, resources and opportunities, a balanced regional development program to foster socially cohesive, resilient and sustainable rural communities needs to be institutionalized,” the order added.