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Friday, March 29, 2024

Preparations for NEA’s golden anniversary on track

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Preparations to mark the 50th founding anniversary of the National Electrification Administration (NEA) are well underway, with a series of activities and events for its stakeholders to commemorate the significant event.  

Carrying the theme “NEA@50: One with ECs and MCOs for Sustainable Rural Development,” this year’s celebration will highlight the NEA and Electric Cooperatives’ milestones, including the symbolic switch-on of the 13 millionth consumer connection.

“This is an opportune time for us to celebrate the gains of Rural Electrification. The success of the Program has been made possible not only with NEA spearheading the electrification efforts of the national government but especially so with the solid partnership of the Electric Cooperatives (ECs) all over the country as our implementing arm, together with the ECs’ Member-Consumer-Owners (MCOs)” said Vicar Loureen Lofranco, the NEA Deputy Administrator for Electric Cooperatives Management Services. 

Preparations for NEA’s golden anniversary on track
NEA building

“The road to sustainable rural development has been paved through rural electrification. We need to reinforce the strategic partnership of the NEA-ECs-MCOs in attaining the shared goal for an improved life of our Filipino people, especially in the rural communities,” she added. 

Taking center stage at the month-long celebration will be the three-day convention to be held at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City from August 6 to 8 tagged as NEA-ECs-MCOs Convention on Rural Electrification.

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In this convention, the NEA will feature the hurdles and success stories in the implementation of the Rural Electrification Program (REP) since its establishment in 1969.

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte is expected to deliver his Keynote Speech in the Opening Program and witness the unveiling of the NEA 50th Anniversary commemorative stamp and the ceremonial switch-on of the milestone 13 millionth consumer connection. 

The convention is expected to gather over 1,500 participants from the electrification sector, including key officials from the government, ECs, EC Allied organizations, as well as representatives from MCOs. 

Preparations for NEA’s golden anniversary on track
NEA Administrator Edgardo Masongsong thanks the DOE and other international agencies for helping the NEA and its partner ECs deliver on their mission to provide electricity access for isolated communities. (NEA Photo)

Other activities lined up to highlight the celebration include Himig RE (song-writing contest), Kuwentong Dagitab (video documentary), Golden Strokes (painting), and Clicks of Gold (photography) competitions.

The agency’s Golden Anniversary also coincides with the 10th National Electrification Awareness Month (NEAM), which is celebrated annually every month of August pursuant to Proclamation Order No. 1743. The celebration will be concluded with a nationwide tree-planting and line clearing activities to be simultaneously carried out by all ECs supervised by the NEA on August 30.

Created as an institution in 1969 through Republic Act No. 6038, the NEA is mandated to carry out the total electrification of the country on an area coverage basis. 

Since then, the electrification agency, in partnership with the 121 ECs across the country, has come a long way in bringing the nation’s rural and remote areas out of darkness. 

For the past five decades, all the 90 cities and 1,385 municipalities covering 78 provinces in the country have been electrified by the NEA and the ECs, being the implementing arm of the government. 

Moreover, a total of 36,057 of the 36,065 or 99 percent of the barangays nationwide have been energized.

Based on 2015 census of 15,416,144 potential households, 85 percent or 13,027,402, which translate into nearly 61 million Filipinos in the countryside are enjoying the benefits of electricity.

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