P1.2-B rural power project budget OK’d

Business World Online

Posted on 10:15 PM, October 11, 2010

THE HOUSE of Representatives and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has agreed to allot an additional P1.2 billion next year for rural electrification with fund source still to be identified.

"Yes, in principle, we are committed to supporting additional funding for rural electrification. We just need to locate space in the budget where this may be provided from," Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad, who is in Washington. D. C. for the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, told BusinessWorld in a text message yesterday when asked about the new appropriation.

The amount was disclosed by Cavite Rep. Joseph Emilio A. Abaya (1^st district), chairman of the committee on appropriations.

"Ball park [for rural electrification] is P1.2 billion. We are making sure that there will be sufficient funds for rural electrification," he said in a separate telephone interview.

Mr. Abaya noted that certain lump sum items in the proposed P1.645-trillion national budget may be realigned for rural electrification.

Lump sum funds, so-called since expenditures are not itemized, will be reviewed by the House and DBM, he explained.

The agreement followed last week’s meeting between Mr. Abad and Visayas and Mindanao congressmen who complained of "inequitable regional distribution of the budget."

"The agreement was to review the allocations per district and ensure that the issue of inequity is addressed. No specific figure was agreed upon. Subject to approval from the President, we expressed agreement in increases in allocation if warranted. As to how much will depend on the review," Mr. Abad said.

The Department of Energy (DoE) originally requested P2-billion outlay to completely energize rural areas by 2020, Energy Secretary Jose Rene D. Almendras said in a budget hearing of the appropriations committee last September.

Should the P1.2-billion budget be approved for 2011, the remaining P800 million will be spread over the remaining nine years, he added.

"Without a program-based support for rural electrification, we cannot guarantee that by 2020 all sitios will be energized," Mylene C. Capongol, director of the Electric Power Industry Management Bureau, said on the sidelines of the same hearing.

A DoE budget brief presented during the hearing noted that the country’s 30,000 sitiosnationwide remain without electricity as of last June.

A sitio is part of a barangay or village, the lowest political unit. -- Noemi M. Gonzales