TAOCANGA, MANAY, DAVAO ORIENTAL – Residents of three hinterland sitios in the far-flung village of Barangay Taocanga in the municipality of Manay say they will be celebrating Christmas and welcoming the New year more joyously as their communities lights up with the new solar panels they received under the government’s Off-Grid Electrification Project.
Children, women, and the rest of the villagers were all smiles as they eagerly welcomed the team from the Public Employment Service Office (PESO) of Manay and troopers from the Philippine Army’s 67th Infantry Battalion who braved the heavy downpour, the unforgiving and perilous road, and the considerable distance from the town proper, just to distribute and install the new solar panels to 102 households in the three sitios of Lilo-an, Pagsayawan, and Basac situated on the mountainous, secluded village on Saturday, December 21.
Manay PESO Manager Elmer Silveron said that although it took two years for the project to be finally materialized, the take-off of the Off-Grid Electrification Project here is a significant achievement in a bid to provide power to communities without access to electricity. “This is our maiden implementation but we hope to continue this project in the near future,” he said.
Funded by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), the project worth one million pesos was implemented in partnership with the Provincial Government of Davao Oriental and the local government unit of Manay.
With a capacity to provide light and charge cellphone batteries as well as other small gadgets and devices, the solar panels uses lithium batteries which are far more clean, efficient, and sustainable compared to its lead acid-based solar panel counterparts being used by a few households here.
Aside from the distribution of solar panels with batteries that has a two-year warranty, among those distributed and installed are three LED bulbs per household and an entertainment set consisting of a 32-inch television and a Sky Cable satellite dish for each of the three sitios.
Joyous Christmas and New Year Celebrations
Thrilled and happy, the thankful residents who have received their new solar panels here say that the project will significantly improve their lives.
A mother of nine, Lerencia Elesio, 49, said that as a mother she is thankful for being able to benefit from the solar project as it would help her children to study well and do their homework at night. “It will make our lives a lot easier as we can easily move about at night,” she says, adding that with the solar lights illuminating during the night, people feel safer and secured. “Through this project, I really felt the care and the good intention of our government,” says Lorencia Elesio.
President of Purok Liloan, Enrique Elesio, expressed his deep appreciation to the government’s initiative to light up their community which ever since has no access to electricity. “This will make a huge difference for my community,” he says.
On the other hand, for most of the villagers, having a community-owned television set will not only provide entertainment but would also help educate and provide villagers ready access to news and information affecting the country. “To village officials like me, knowing what’s happening in our province and the country is important,” said Elesio.
The initial 102 household beneficiaries of the Off-grid Electrification Project, who are members of sitio-based organizations, are set to craft and implement guidelines for the usage, maintenance and care for the solar panels and the community entertainment set.
“We only ask that you take good care of these new equipment entrusted to you by the government,” says PESO Manager Elmer Silveron as he appealed to the villagers to take seriously their responsibilities as owners of the new equipment, particularly for its maintenance and its proper use.
Out of the seven sitios comprising Barangay Taocanga, only one has access to electricity. “So, there are still many households in the area that are considered off-grid which we hope to cater in the near future,” says Silveron.
Ending Insurgency, Sustaining Peace
While hoping to transform lives and light the path of the youth, women, farmers, and various sectors in the village, the solar project primarily aims to help sustain peace and help make the community become conflict-resilient.
“This is a pivotal point for the people here so that they will really feel that there is indeed a government that takes care of its people,” said Silveron.
For the Philippine Army, reaching out to the communities, delivering basic services, and winning the hearts of the people is the very essence of the government’s peace and development efforts which are aligned to the localized implementation of President Duterte’s Executive Order 70 and Governor Nelson Dayanghirang’s Executive Order 13 which are all aimed at ending the local communist armed conflict.
“We aim to establish peaceful and conflict-resilient communities. So, we are reaching out to conflict-affected areas and Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged Areas (GIDA) to provide them basic services like this electrification project. And we are happy to become an instrument to deliver this much-needed equipment to the people here,” said First Lieutenant Jei-Em Tagufa, Public Information Officer of the 67th Infantry Battalion, who represented Commanding Officer Lt. Col. Louie Dema-ala.
The Philippine Army attributed the success of the project to the convergence of efforts of all key actors behind the initiative who played a huge role in making people feel the presence of the government.
While electrification is only one of the many crucial investments needed in the area, villagers are also hopeful that more development will soon follow including the construction of concrete roads to their mountain village which is endowed with fertile grounds for planting corn and abaca.
Villagers say that now with the much-needed electrification and the eventual construction of roads, they are becoming more optimistic that their village’s woes would soon be remedied and that their dream to boost their village’s economic development would soon be realized. By Karen Lou Deloso/Photos by KLD
