Christmas came early for students and teachers of three schools in Concepcion and Janiuay, Iloilo as One Meralco Foundation continues its School Electrification Program for last mile schools in the country.
While many Filipinos kick-off the yuletide season at the start of the “ber” months by turning on Christmas lights in their homes, malls and offices, off-grid and other far-flung communities are not able to enjoy the same due to lack of sources of electricity.
In the northern part of Iloilo, some island barangays struggle with stable access to electricity and even communications signals. Residents rely only on neighbors (or in some cases on the barangay hall) who have their own diesel generator or a small solar panel to power up a single lamp for the night, or a tv or radio.
Because gasoline and the generators are expensive, schools in the islands are not usually prioritized by genset owners.
Baliguian, an island not known to many, is a sitio of Brgy. Malangabang in Concepcion, Iloilo located 40.5 kilometers (about 25.17 mi) off the coast of mainland Concepcion. It is the farthest island in Concepcion—approximately 1.5 to 2 hours away by boat from the mainland and about 2 hours away from Cadiz, Negros Occidental.
Due to its distance and location, it cannot easily be reached by electricity providers.
As a resident of the island, Wendel John Aragon, the current school head of Baliguian Elementary School shared his first-hand experience of what it is like to live and teach in the last, farthest island of the municipality.
“The situation on the island is difficult for the residents and, especially, for our students. Growing up (here), I experienced hardships and now that I am teaching here, I realized how hard it is to deliver quality education with lack of conducive space for learning because we don’t have electricity and connectivity,” Aragon said.
“In schools located in the mainland, students at least experience learning tools like TV, computers and laptops and the internet. But in Baliguian we can’t use those because there is no electricity. That really affects the knowledge and skills of the students. It was harder during the pandemic as teachers from our school needed to ferry to the mainland to print the modules and go back to the island to distribute these,” he added.
In October, One Meralco Foundation, the corporate social responsibility arm of the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) installed a 1-kw peak solar photovoltaic system in their school as well as in two others – the Polopiña Elementary School in the municipality of Concepcion, and Canauillan Elementary School in the municipality of Janiuay.
The system will light up multi-media learning equipment and other useful appliances on top of lighting and ventilation and will enable improvement of learning delivery by the teachers and learning experience of the students. A total of 475 total students and 24 teachers will benefit from these initiatives.
On top of the solar pv system, Meralco employees donated to the three schools’ multimedia learning equipment composed of LED television, laptop, and a printer-scanner through the Meralco Employees Fund for Charity Inc. (MEFCI).
“Being able to reach the most distant island schools in the country gives an even deeper meaning to our work in One Meralco Foundation. Our program provides hope to students, teachers and the community in these islands so that they can continue gaining knowledge and developing their skills so that one day they can improve the lives and livelihood of their families,” said One Meralco Foundation President Jeffrey Tarayao.
The three schools in Iloilo also benefited from OMF’s partnership with Lenovo Philippines which donated additional laptops.
The Lenovo devices were donated to teachers and students on the islands to increase their access to technology. Lenovo employees, including Michael Ngan, President and General Manager of Lenovo Philippines, volunteered during the school visit and delivered “Balik Eskwela” kits to kindergarten and grade one students in the three schools. The kits included a backpack, a lunchbox, and a tumbler as well as washable face masks, and bottles of alcohol which will help the students as they resume face-to-face classes.
“At Lenovo, we strive to empower communities with technology and opportunity. To bridge the digital divide and fill gaps in our education system, we support mission-aligned organizations like OMF to drive positive impact. With the donated devices, we hope to make a difference in the communities, to improve their way of learning with the innovative products and services we offer,” Ngan said.
OMF has been energizing schools in island and mountain communities in Iloilo since 2016 and has energized 16 so far from the municipalities of Concepcion, Calinog, Carles, Janiuay, Lambunao, and Estancia. Overall, the Foundation has already energized 285 schools throughout the country since the program started in 2012.