Renewable energy (RE) is now the name of the game following Malacañang's declaration of a national energy emergency.

In this regard, Camarines Sur 5th district Rep Migz Villafuerte has highlighted two solar-powered irrigation projects in his province that are seen to benefit 1,854 farmers tilling more than 1,800 hectares of cropland combined in the municipalities of Bula and Minabalac.

According to Villafuerte, the P126.7-million Solar Pump Irrigation Project  (SPIP) in Bula, and the P205.46-million SPIP in Minalabac, will drastically prune the operating expenses of the cooperatives that run them.

Thanks to harnessed solar power, the cooperatives no longer need to pay the hundreds of thousands worth of monthly electricity bills that was the norm when their irrigation systems were still connected to the grid.

The Bula SPIP is operated by the San Agustin-San Ramon Agrarian Reform Farmers’ Cooperative (SARF), while the Minabalac SPIP is managed by the Mataoroc-Sagrada-San Jose-Baliwag Viejo (MASSBA) cooperative. These were recently inspected by President Marcos.

Citing a report by SARF general manager Arthur Nabeje, Villafuerte says hat the cooperative’s monthly electricity expense for operating the SPIP, for instance, has been slashed 98 percenr from about P385,000 to just P7,000 because this irrigation system is mostly run by solar power.   

“Napakaganda dahil lagpas 500 hectares ang sakop nitong solar irrigation program, over 700 farmers ang matutulungan, and tulong para bumaba ang costs para sa mga farmers dito sa bayan ng Bula,” the former provincial governor said in a Facebook post.

(It’s wonderful because this solar irrigation program covers over 500 hectares, will benefit more than 700 farmers, and will help lower costs for the farmers here in the town of Bula.)

This SPIP used to derive all of its power from the Camarines Sur III Electric Cooperaive Inc. (Casureco).

“Sana mapalawak at ma-replicate sa iba't-ibang parte ng Rinconada, ng Bula, ng CamSur, ng Pilipinas. So sana mas marami pa ang mga ganitong proyekto. Kaya, thank you PBBM (President Bongbong Marcos)," Villafuerte added.

(Hopefully this can be expanded and replicated in different parts of Rinconada, of Bula, of CamSur, of the Philippines. So hopefully there will be more projects like this. So, thank you PBBM.)

Rinconada refers to Camarines Sur's fifth district composed of Iriga City, Bula and several other municipalities.

During the President’s recent inspection, National Irrigation Administration (NIA) Administrator Eduardo Guillen said the opening of the two SPIPs demonstrated the government’s commitment to helping farmers increase their income as well as improve their living conditions.

MASSBA Board Member Nellie Israel recalled that the Minalabac irrigation system was built during the administration of the late former president Ferdinand Marcos Sr., and that she she was elated that PBBM continued this project by modernizing it.

President Marcos also led the ceremonial activation of the P500-million Bicol Mega Cold Storage Warehouse, which Governor LRay Villafuerte described as a “gamechanger” facility. It is now one of the country’s biggest postharvest complexes that promises to transform the province into a premier agro-industrial food hub.

This facility is expected to benefit over 200,000 farmers and farmers cooperatives and associations (FCAs) in Bicol, the Visayas and Mindanao.

President Marcos also inspected a separate, nearby P290-million fruits and vegetables processing facility.