Electric cooperatives (ECs) are authorized to realign the budget they have set aside for some of their institutional activities this year to fund the initial rollout of their respective “Pantawid Liwanag” programs, the National Electrification Administration (NEA) said.
NEA Administrator Edgardo Masongsong said the power coops may consider this option as well as other fundraising activities to support the “Pantawid Liwanag” program without risking the budgets allocated for their capital expenditures and operating expenses.
“These measures must be incorporated in the EC Risk Management and Sustainability Plans.”
The NEA earlier instructed all ECs to cancel their planned 2020 institutional activities in the wake of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak with the national government and public health experts strictly prohibiting all kinds of mass gatherings.
These directives were made after a state of calamity in the country was declared through Proclamation No. 929, which effectively placed the entire island of Luzon under an enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) and other provinces outside of it also following suit.
In a memorandum issued Tuesday (April 14), Masongsong reiterated these guidelines to the ECs, adding that the budget for their canceled institutional events may be tapped to fund their corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs in response to the COVID-19 crisis.
“The budget already appropriated for the said activities may be realigned into working capital requirements necessary to sustain and ensure the continuity of EC operations and to [finance] their CSR programs such as ‘Pantawid Liwanag,’” the NEA chief said.
This is a favorable action on the part of the NEA to the consolidated appeals raised by concerned non-stock and non-profit power distribution utilities to the agency through their national associations, Masongsong noted.
The NEA chief said these measures must be “incorporated in the EC Risk Management and Sustainability Plans,” which the co-ops were asked to carry out to ensure that their power distribution services would remain undisrupted amid the ongoing public health emergency.
The ECs were likewise instructed to submit copies of such detailed plans to the NEA to help the agency address and assess the impact of the COVID-19 situation on the rural electrification sector and their stakeholders.
“Pantawid Liwanag” is a unified CSR program initiated by the Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives Association, Inc. (PHILRECA).
The ‘Pantawid Liwanag’ is a unified CSR program initiated by the Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives Association, Inc. (PHILRECA) in cooperation with the National Association of General Managers of Electric Cooperatives (NAGMEC) among participating ECs nationwide.
It aims to subsidize the electricity needs of “lifeline consumers” or those families in low-income, marginalized households, who have levels of electricity consumption below a certain threshold.
Per the guidelines released by PHILRECA, the participating ECs are given full discretion on how it will implement the program at the grassroots level based on their financial capability and the actual circumstances of their target beneficiaries.
The definition of “lifeline consumers” among the ECs will also vary, as determined by their respective managements within the parameters set by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).
The PHILRECA-led ‘Pantawid Liwanag’ was created in support of widespread national government efforts to assist Filipinos in the countryside whose livelihoods were severely disrupted by the COVID-19 outbreak.
Meanwhile, the cancellation of the institutional activities of the ECs this year was in line with the provisions of Republic Act No. 11469 or the “Bayanihan to Heal as One Act” and the recent extension of the ECQ in Luzon until April 30.