Mirant, DOE ink pacts with rural cooperatives

Mirant Philippines Corp. through its social development arm, Mirant Philippines Foundation, has signed with the Department of Energy and representatives of 45 electric cooperatives a memorandum of agreement to signal the start of the electrification of 1,000 unenergized barangays in Luzon and some parts of Mindanao.

This initiative dubbed "1 Billion-Peso Power to the Barrios Program" is aimed at bringing the benefits of electricity to the far-flung rural communities and isolated islands in the country to spur economic activites and improve the quality of life of people living in the identified areas.

Mirant has allocated P1 billion to finance this program – the first and largest corporate social responsibility program of its kind from a private corporation.

The government, having identified poverty as a major barrier to development, has doubled its efforts to curb the rampant poverty that afflicts a large portion of the Filipino population.

Recognizing its own limitations in terms of resources and personnel, government has increasingly turned to the private sector for assistance, especially in the provision of the basic infrastructure (transportation, water, electricity and telecommunications) necessary to spur growth and help the Philippines become more globally-competitive.

Mirant’s initiative is in support of the DOE’s ‘O-Ilaw Program’ that aims to increase the level of electrification in the country by 100 percent by the year 2006.

The signing ceremony was attended by Energy Secretary Vincent Perez Jr., NEA Administrator Fr. Francisco de Silva, Mirant Philippines president Edgardo Bautista, and representatives of 45 electric cooperatives.

Mirant Philippines Foundation is a non-profit organization established to contribute to the over-all national development efforts by building and improving the human development capital of the country’s marginalized sectors.

Mirant Philippines, a wholly owned subsidiary of Atlanta-based Mirant Corp., is the largest private producer of electricity in the country, owning more than 2,300-MW of installed generating capacity.