The percentage of household electrification rate or the number of houses with access to electricity has decreased across the country, officials of the Department of Energy (DOE) told senators on Friday, September 29.

According to Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla, the number of households with electricity has dropped from 98 percent in 2015 to 96 percent based on the 2020 census.

But Lotilla said the decrease in the household electrification rate in the country is a result of the increase in the number of households.

Thus, he said it would be difficult for the DOE to meet the provision of electricity in many areas in the country due to the limited budget given to them by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) for the next year.

The DOE has a proposed budget of P2.59-billion for 2024. According to Lotilla, the government is targeting a 100 percent electrification by 2028.

However, for 2024, the agency’s proposed P6-billion budget for the electrification program was slashed by P4-billion by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

“We try our best, but maybe what the DBM was looking at the rate of the implementation because at a certain point, we inherited from pevious years, some amounts that were not liquidated,” Lotilla explained during the Senate finance subcommittee hearing the DOE’s proposed budget.

“So in their (DBM) analysis, they will have to take account, even though it’s a new administration, they will have to take account the previous years,”

“So I guess that was also the factor that they considered. But we want to assure you, since we have a catch up plan on the expenditures,” he said.

National Electrification Administration Antonio Alameda said the original P6-billion request for the electrification program would supposedly cover 2,000 sitios for 2023.

But because of the budget cut, almost 1,500 sites would not be provided with electricity supply.

Nevertheless, Alameda said they have prepared a 5-year electrification program hoping to achieve 100 percent electrification by 2027.

DBM Acting Director Budget and Management Bureau Gemma Ilagan, for her part, assured that they will address this matter and she will immediately provide the information to the office that holds the NEA.

Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda, on the other hand, said that while she doubts the DOE can fully achieve full electrification by 2027, she still believes the agency deserves a budget hike.

“I don’t want to dash your hopes but to say that we’ll have a full electrification by 2027 is really a pipe dream, which I am glad you are gung-ho about it,” Legarda said.