MANILA, Philippines — President Duterte has signed into law the creation of the Electric Cooperatives Emergency and Resiliency Fund (ECERF) under Republic Act 11039, which will allow 122 electric cooperatives to provide power to millions of Filipinos nationwide.
The Senate and the House of Representative ratified the reconciled version that seeks to assist electric cooperatives during calamities.
In an earlier statement, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, principal author of the law, said an initial amount of P750 million would be appropriated for the purpose, carved out from the P7-billion budget of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council for electric cooperatives (ECs).
“The amount shall be immediately released to the National Electrification Administration Quick Response Fund for proper release to qualified electric cooperatives,” he said.
Gatchalian said ECs would no longer have to pass on the reconstruction costs of damaged infrastructure due to natural calamities directly to their more than 11 million member-consumers.
Subsequent budget allocation would be included in the General Appropriations Act under the ECERF.
“The allocation of the fund shall be exclusively for the restoration or rehabilitation of the electric cooperatives’ damaged infrastructure after a fortuitous event,” Gatchalian said, stressing the amount should not be used for the conversion of a calamity loan into a grant.
The measure requires all electric cooperatives to submit to the National Electrification Administration (NEA) their respective vulnerability and risk assessments, resiliency compliance plans and emergency response plans every year as part of the requirements to access ECERF.
With regard to donations given by both local and foreign sources, Gatchalian said NEA shall now have the mandate to receive funds, materials, or equipment intended for the purpose of restoring, or rehabilitating damaged infrastructure of electric cooperatives caused by natural calamities.