The National Electrification Administration on Wednesday welcomed the P768-million budget increase on electrification projects under this year’s General Appropriations Act.
NEA administrator Edgardo Masongsong said the national government subsidy for rural electrification increased P768 million to P2.299 billion in the 2020 GAA from P1.531 billion in the National Expenditure Program.
“The additional funding and the provision of emergency fund for electric cooperatives in the aftermath of calamities are a recognition of the key role that rural electrification plays in spurring social and economic growth, creating employment, and improving the living conditions of Filipinos in the countryside,” Masongsong said in a statement.
A bigger portion of the subsidy equivalent to P1.398 billion was appropriated for the implementation of the second phase of the Sitio Electrification Program, slightly higher from NEP’s P1.162 billion for SEP.