ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider Luzon devider Visayan Electric powers mountain village in Cebu

Visayan Electric powers mountain village in Cebu

Published Mar 8, 2025 12:57 pm

CEBU CITY – For most families in a mountain barangay in the City of Naga, southern Cebu, to have a stable electricity in their households would cost them a fortune.

20250306_101616.jpg

VISAYAN Electric President and COO Engr. Raul Lucero (from left), Lanas Barangay Captain Emily Baricuatro, Department of Energy Visayas Field Office Director Renante Sevilla, KEPCO Legal and Community Relations Manager Atty. Christie Anne Conales, and Head of OBO Engr. Florencia Mumar lead the ceremonial switch-on of a house wiring project on Thursday, March 6.(Calvin Cordova)

That’s why for years, several households in Barangay Lanas have been living in the dark.

That is about to change as Visayan Electric, in partnership with the Korea Electric Power Co., launched a project offering free electricity installation in 26 households.

The House Wiring Project launched on Thursday, March 6, is done under the Department of Energy Energy Regulation (ER) 1-94 program that aims to provide free electricity installation to indigent households in the Visayan Electric franchise area.

During the switch-on ceremony, the barangay captain of the pilot area for the project’s first phase, barangay captain Emily Baricuatro, expressed gratitude that her constituents will finally have electricity after living without it for many years.

“We are very thankful that we were chosen for this program. There are a lot of households here that don’t have their own power supply,” said Baricuatro.

Baricuatro said there was skepticism when the program was announced in the barangay.

Only 26 households signified to avail of the program but the list grew to 184 when it was confirmed that the project would through, Baricuatro said.

Currently, Visayan Electric has over P28 million in electrification funds under the ER 1-94 Program, with KEPCO being one of the major contributors to the fund.

The full amount and future electrification funds allocated to Visayan Electric will be used to cover labor and materials for house wiring projects for indigents within the franchise area.

The electric utility has mobilized its accredited electricians for the implementation of the project.

For the first phase of the implementation, a total of 2,013 identified households  in the municipality of San Fernando will benefit from the project.

Angel Mae Alfante, 25, one of the project beneficiaries from Lanas, said they have been yearning to have their own electricity at home.

“We just connect to our neighbors so we can have electricity at night,” said Alfnate.

House wiring would usually cost P12,000 to P13,000 per household.

“Electrification needs an electrical plan which would cost P1,000 per page and it contains several pages because you still have the structural plan. But with this project, house wiring will be offered for free. We have accredited electricians who will install the wirings,” said Visayan Electric President and COO Engr. Raul Lucero.

Under the program, qualified beneficiaries will get it for free where their houses will be installed with one outlet and two light sockets.

“We are so thankful for this free house wiring. We can’t electrify our houses because our income is just enough or not even enough for other expenses,” added Alfante, a mother of a four-year-old boy.

ER 1-94 is a DOE program intended to compensate for the contribution made by the communities hosting energy-generating facilities and or energy resources.

Under this regulation, host communities are entitled to a financial benefit of P0.01/kWh of electricity sales from generating companies.

ER1-94 funds are divided into three allocations – electrification fund, development and livelihood fund, and reforestation, watershed management, health and or environment enhancement fund.

Electrification funds are forwarded directly to the distribution utilities for the implementation of electrification projects.

Visayan Electric, the second largest electric utility in the Philippines, is commemorating 120 years of powering and partnering with communities across the greater part of Metro Cebu.

Its franchise area spans the cities of Cebu, Mandaue, Talisay, and Naga, and the municipalities of Liloan, Consolacion, Minglanilla, and San Fernando.

Related Tags

Visayan Electric Company Naga City Cebu province
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.