New hope for Mindanao bared in Congress photo exhibit

Renewed hopes of sustainable peace and progress in remote rural communities of former rebel combatants in Muslim Mindanao was the subject of the photo exhibit that the Alliance for Mindanao Off-Grid Renewable Energy (AMORE) staged at the South Wing Lobby of the Batasang Pambansa last August 11-14, 2003.

Presented by the House Committee on Energy chaired by Congressman Alipio Cirilo V. Badelles, the exhibit, entitled “AMORE: Ilaw para sa Mindanao (AMORE: Light for Mindanao),” showcased the program’s efforts to energize such communities with clean and renewable power to spur livelihood and social services development and thus raise incomes and quality of life.

The photo exhibit presented a typical AMORE beneficiary community, in which a solar battery charging station lights up households and streetlights and powers a livelihood center and a public calling office.

Keynote speaker at the opening of the exhibit last August 11 was House Speaker Jose C. de Venecia, Jr. Representing the organizations that make up AMORE are Dr. Michael Yates, Mission Director of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Philippines, the program’s major funder; Secretary Vincent Perez of the Philippine Department of Energy; Governor Parouk Hussin of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), site of many AMORE beneficiary communities; Mr. Roberto Calingo, Executive Director of the Mirant Philippines Foundation, the social assistance arm of the country’s largest independent power producer, Mirant Philippines, which donated the solar energy equipment for several AMORE barangays; and Mr. Rodrigo Cabrera, Chief of Party of AMORE which is being implemented by Winrock International, a global non-profit organization based in the U.S.

Also present at the event were Mr. Alex Butic, Vice President of the Quedan and Rural Credit Guarantee Corporation or QUEDANCOR, the credit and guarantee company of the Philippine Department of Agriculture, which recently created a PhP25M micro-loan facility for livelihood projects of AMORE’s beneficiary communities; and officials of SMART Communications, Inc., the country’s largest wireless telecommunications services provider, which set up a Public Calling Office (PCO) in Barangay Pababag, Bongao, Tawi-Tawi powered by the solar energy system that AMORE has installed in the community.