Gov't bats for electrification of 10K sitios this year

MANILA, Philippines - The government is batting for the electrification of 10,394 sitios this year, higher than the 6,000 sitios provided electricity in 2012.

Data from the National Electrification Administration showed that for this year, only 898 sitios so far have been installed with electricity. About 5,000 are under construction.

Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla said the implementation of the project is being slowed down by the falure of electric companies to meet requirement set by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM). He added that the election ban this year also contributed to the lower accomplishment in the first half of the year.

“DBM can give more funds if the (electric companies) can implement faster. So we are looking at a scheme of bidding it out short of awarding,” he said.

The electrification projects are being bidded out by the government to electric companies which will set up lines for power distribution.

Petilla said the project, which spends P650,000 for the electrification of each sitio, had an increase in budget from P4 billion to P6.5 billion.

The government targets to provide power to 7,107 sitios next year and 7,257 for 2015.

Out of 105,000 sitios in the Philippines, only 80 percent have electricity, government data showed.