News and Announcements
Gifts of electricity and water brighten up holidays in the island
This Christmas, gifts are not the only ones coming to the shores of Cagbalete island in Mauban, Quezon; the gifts of electricity and potable water are washed ashore, too, through a partnership between Quezon Power Ltd., the local government unit of Mauban, and the Alliance for Mindanao and Multi-Regional Renewable/Rural Energy Development (AMORE) program.
On December 01st, amidst a flurry of gifts-giving and merry making, project partners will turn over to the Cagbalete Elementary School the solar-powered multimedia-based education facility completed months before. The elementary school now houses a solar-powered DVD player and television set on which students view educational programs that complement the Department of Education’s basic education curriculum.
In the same event, a groundbreaking ceremony will be held to kick off the construction of a potable water system that will benefit the school’s more than 500 students and families in the island.
Cagbalete is just one of the villages in the municipality to benefit from the school electrification initiative. Cagsiay Tres, a village in another unenergized island in the municipality, will soon enjoy the benefits of electricity at the school, through renewable energy.
An energy company that is committed to improving the quality of life of communities where it operates, Quezon Power implements projects focused on education, and environment protection, conservation and awareness, among others, that benefit residents of the municipality.
The Cagbalete Elementary School is the first stop in the AMORE program’s holiday activity series, which will see project inaugurations and gifts-giving and merry making across five different sites in Luzon and Mindanao within the Christmas month of December: Quezon province, Sarangani, Sultan Kudarat, Zamboanga del Norte, and Batangas City.
To date, the AMORE program and its partners have brought access to electricity to at least 65 remote rural schools using solar technology, since the start of the program’s third phase in late 2009.
The AMORE program is a rural electrification alliance between the United States Agency for International Development, the Philippine Department of Energy, SunPower Foundation and Winrock International.
