Thursday, April 7, 2011

Aboitiz Power turns over royalties to host locales


Manila Times.net
ABOITIZ Power Corp. (AP) has turned over the revenue share of host communities to the company’s hydro plant operations.
In a statement, AP said its wholly owned subsidiary Hedcor Sibulan Inc. has given a total of P5.8 million to communities in the vicinity of the latter’s 42.5-megawatt Sibulan hydro power plant.
“It is at the core of [AP’s] business philosophy to operate its companies in a sustainable manner. For operations to be sustainable, the company has to make sure that community and social development are an integral part of how the company does business,” Rene Ronquillo, Hedcor chief operating officer, said.
Located in Davao del Sur, the company’s run-of-river Sibulan plant began commercial operation on March 26, 2010 with a total generation of 105.5 gigawatt-hours of Cleanergy, AP’s brand of clean and renewable energy.
The turnover of revenues from the facility is in line with the Department of Energy’s rule requiring generating facilities to give host communities a share of P0.01 per kilowatt-hour of electricity sales.
Broken down, the total amount turned over was P1.6 million to the municipality of Santa Cruz, P1.1 million to Barangay Sibulan, P500,000 to Barangay Darong, P1.1 million to the tribal communities, and P1.6 million to the province of Davao del Sur.
“We want to make our shareholders happy by giving them satisfactory returns on their investments—yet in a way that also protects people, our own personnel, our host communities, and the environment for a better future,” Ronquillo said.
Besides turning over annual shares to local communities, AP said the company, in partnership with Aboitiz Foundation Inc., also conducts corporate social responsibility projects focusing on primary health, education, energization, reforestation and livelihood.
AP’s shares closed at P31.55 each on Wednesday, up from P31.20 previously.
Euan Paulo C. Añonuevo

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