DOE: 3 Negros Oriental solons get 10,000 light bulbs via PEEP

DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines  â€“ Key officials of the Department of Energy (DOE) have confirmed that three House Representatives of Negros Oriental are each getting an allocation of 10,000 compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs under the national government’s Philippine Energy Efficiency Project (PEEP).

In a recent press conference here, DOE Undersecretary Loreta Ayson and Directors Evelyn Reyes and Raquel Huliganga explained the distribution of the CFLs was part of the government’s energy security strategy.

Representatives Jocelyn Limkaichong (1st district) and George Arnaiz (2nd district) have already received their allocation while Rep. Pryde Henry Teves (3rd district) has yet to complete the requirements for the release of the energy efficient light bulbs, said Huliganga.

The DOE officials admitted that the congressional representatives have the discretion to identify their respective constituents who shall benefit from the CFL distribution.

They also assured the public that the project will not be used for political purposes even though they lamented that the distribution of CFLs comes at a time when the country is gearing up for its May 13 mid-term elections.

Some congressmen were not able to strictly follow the scheduled distribution from September 22 to 29 last year, the dates of which were set earlier to avoid the election period, the DOE officials said.

Reyes said the representatives are subjected to strict accounting of recipients of the CFL bulbs, although not one of the province’s congressional representatives have submitted a report on the matter yet.

The DOE-initiated PEEP is funded by the Asian Development Bank with a funding of US$46.5 million or P2.2 billion. Part of the project’s campaign is to encourage households to shift from use of incandescent bulbs to CFLs to reduce power costs. The project is to end in June, this year.

A roadshow presentation of the PEEP was staged at the Silliman University in Dumaguete City. (FREEMAN)