By:
Daxim L. Lucas - 12:14 AM December 27, 2016
Alsons Power group has
earmarked an initial P17 million for social projects in Mindanao to comply with
a government mandate to allot a portion of their revenues to help develop
communities around their facilities, the company said.
In a statement, the
firm controlled by the Mindanao-based Alcantara family said the fund allocation
was meant to follow the Department of Energy’s Energy Regulation 1-94 that
ordered power generating facilities to set aside one centavo per kilowatt-hour
of sales for development projects in the host and neighboring communities where
these facilities operate.
According to Alsons
corporate affairs manager Ruben Tungpalan, the funds would be utilized for a
wide range of projects that include the construction of a multipurpose
gym/covered court in Baluntay Elementary School; construction of a footbridge
in Malungon, Sarangani Province; provisions of medical kits to 805 barangay
health workers; upgrading of the medical equipment in the regional hospital
located in Sarangani; and the construction of a school building for the Alabel
National High School also in Sarangani.
The Mindanao-based
power company has also allocated an additional P15 million for its corporate
social responsibility (CSR) projects such as the granting of scholarships to
poor but deserving students; the establishment of nurseries for mangroves and
bamboo as part of a river protection program; as well as an artificial reef
fabrication project in partnership with the Conrado and Ladislawa Alcantara
Foundation Inc. (CLAFI), also referred to as the Alcantara Foundation.
During a recent
briefing, Tungpalan disclosed that the power group’s major focus for CSR would
be the educational and scholarship programs, in particular the Samahang Big
Brother reading enhancement initiative that has helped over 2,000 grades 1 and
2 pupils improve their reading comprehension skills.
“Our experience has
shown that education has the biggest impact to the community in terms of
long-term poverty alleviation,” Tungpalan said, adding that a good educational
foundation in the formative years can make a lot of difference, as seen in the
dramatic reduction of dropout rates among students. Aside from scholarship and
reading programs, Alsons Power also supports teacher training programs to
upgrade the skills of educators.
“All our programs are
coordinated with local government units who help us identify the needs of
communities and help us prioritize the areas that we should support in terms of
education, where we should focus our reforestation efforts by identifying the
heavily damaged areas that must be replanted,” Tungpalan said, naming Maasim,
Sarangani mayor Aniceto Lopez as one of those who have been actively coordinating
with and supporting the CSR initiatives of the power company.
Aside from a 43-hectare
marine protected area – which is a joint undertaking with local and national
agencies – a banner environmental program is the 7,500-hectare watershed
protection project encompassing five barangays in Maasim, Sarangani, undertaken
by Alsons subsidiary Sarangani Energy Corp. (SEC) that has a 210-megawatt coal
plant there. Aimed at protecting the Siguil and Kamanga River watersheds, the
SEC watershed program that began in 2012 is the single biggest reforestation
project in the country, targeting the planting of 3.75 million seedlings in 15
years or by 2027.
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