By Katherine Mariano
LAGAWE, Ifugao -- Communities
in Ifugao, Isabela, and Nueva Vizcaya hosting renewable energy provider SN
Aboitiz Power-Magat, Inc. (SNAP-Magat) received close to P4 million from the of
Electrification Fund of the power firm to support their fight against Covid-19.
EF worth
P418,834.70 for the remaining host local government units in the said
provinces also await endorsement from the Department of Energy (DOE).
Once approved
for remittance, this would bring the total EF for SNAP-Magat host communities
to P4.4 million excluding the regional share.
The EF
is part of the ER 1-94 program under the DOE providing host communities with a
one-centavo share for every kilowatt-hour (PhP0.01/kWh) of the total
electricity sales of a generating company. Other than EF, the Development and
Livelihood fund (DLF) and the Reforestation, Watershed Management, Health and
Environment Enhancement Fund (RWMHEEF) make up the total ER 1-94 fund.
In
2018, DOE amended ER 1-94 so power generation companies can directly give the
fund to their host communities.
It also
expanded categories of beneficiaries to include host regions and indigenous
peoples groups, as well as designated distribution utilities in charge of the
EF component for host beneficiaries. Last year, SNAP-Magat signed memorandums
of agreement with its host communities to implement the amended ER 1-94.
With
the public health emergency caused by Covid-19, DOE issued Department Circular
(DC) No. 2020-04-00080 on April 6 to allow the use of ER1-94 for COVID-19
response projects and the downloading of the EF to host communities as backup
for DLF and RWMHEEF. Projects include facilitation of mass testing by providing
and constructing facilities, procurement of medical testing kits, emergency
subsidy (non-food) or augmentation to existing subsidy programs, access to
essential goods such as food and medicine through mobile markets or feeding
programs, and protective personal equipment (PPEs) for frontliners.
SNAP-Magat
remitted around P7.8 million worth of DLF and RWMHEEF in late 2019 and earlier
this year.
These
accumulated from December 26, 2017 to December 25, 2019 while amendments to the
ER 1-94 guidelines were being developed. In April, SNAP-Magat also provided
food and PPE aid to its Magat host communities worth around PhP4.8 million from
the company's voluntary Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) fund.
“We thank the
DOE for exploring ways to support the nation’s fight against COVID-19. The
newly signed DC backs our commitment to help our host communities in their
battle against COVID-19,” SNAP President and CEO Joseph S. Yu said.
“SNAP
Group is committed to powering positive change in our host communities. Social
responsibility has always been at the core of our operations, and COVID-19 has
in no way dented that commitment, it only strengthened it,” he added.
SNAP-Magat is
a joint venture between SN Power of Norway and AboitizPower.
It owns and
operates the 360- to 388-megawatt Magat hydro on the border of Isabela and
Ifugao; and the 8.5-MW Maris hydro in Isabela.
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