Organized electric cooperatives in the country have expressed their support for the presidential bid of Vice President Leni Robredo for her recognition of the significance of the energy sector in nation-building and the country's economic development.
The Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives Association (PHILRECA) issued the statement as candidates campaign for their respective targeted government posts for the upcoming elections in May.
In a statement, Presley De Jesus, president of the 121-member PHILRECA, said they have decided to support Robredo for "sincerely acknowledging the strategic significance of the energy sector in national economic development and the overall nation-building program."
He said what the country needs is a leader like the Vice President.
"Given the seemingly insurmountable challenges our country is encountering at present, we need a strong leader who knows what it takes to attain economic progress," he said.
De Jesus, who is also a sitting partylist representative, specifically cited Robredo’s advocacy to empower the electric cooperatives across the country by making them part of the policy-making process of the Department of Energy (DOE).
"Without doubt, the energy we provide propels the engines of growth in every nook and cranny of the country," he stressed.
"That is why I fully agree with the Vice President that governance cannot be effective by making it an exclusive prerogative of the technocrats and the swivel chair managers who arbitrarily lay down the rules without prior consultations with the governed," he added.
"We stand four-square behind her avowed ICE (inclusive, consultative, empowering) policy that equates to the very soul and spirit of a democratic government," he continued.
As a gesture of their all-out support to her candidacy, De Jesus said they are putting up a headquarters for the campaign of Vice President Robredo and her running mate Senator Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan in Isabela.
In her speech during a recent forum of the PHILRECA, Robredo said "it is time" for the electric cooperatives (ECs) to have a voice in policy-making decisions of the government, specifically the DOE.
"Kaya ako po pag ako binigyan ng pagkakataong makapagsilbi, ang isa sa mga commitments ko sa inyo ay siguradong may mga representatives galing sa sektor ninyo na magiging bahagi ng energy family na lagi ang konsultahin (If given a chance to serve , one of my commitments is to make sure that there are representatives from your sector in the energy family that we can always consult)," Robredo told the PHILRECA.
She also emphasized that public utilities such as the electric distribution networks should not be profit-oriented because their primordial task is to uplift the people’s quality of life.