GENERAL SANTOS CITY: National Electrification Administration (NEA) chief Edgardo Masongsong has called for unity among electric cooperatives (ECs) nationwide to surmount the continuing challenges the electrification sector faces today.
Masongsong made the appeal during the joint convention of the Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives, Inc. (Philreca) and the Philippine Federation of Electric Cooperatives (Philfeco) held Thursday at SM City General Santos Trade Hall.
In his speech, the NEA chief stressed the importance of collective strength in overcoming challenges as well as preserving the gains of rural electrification.
“Unity is strength, disunity is weakness. The way to a successful endeavor is to gather together in unity. The way to thwart challenges is to confront it with a unified action,” he told EC delegates gathered at the event.
Masongsong said the Philreca-Philfeco joint convention, with the theme “United We Stand, Divided We Fall,” was an opportune time for the ECs to introduce ideas and strategies that will be beneficial to their respective communities.
“The challenge remains: to bring the ECs into the global sphere of empowerment in facing the challenges in the industry and maximizing opportunities through teamwork, unity and cooperation,” he said.
In the same breath, the NEA chief pressed on the ECs to be more aggressive and innovative in order for them to become globally competitive.
“At the NEA, we call on you, our partners in the rural electrification, to be ever aggressive in the aim of being globally competitive electric cooperatives and endeavor all the more to be operationally viable, efficient and effective distribution utilities to be able to render the maximum benefit and quality service to our member-consumer-owners,” he said.
Further, the NEA chief thanked the ECs for their partnership in rural electrification program of the government since the state-run agency started its journey 49 years ago.
“Ours has been quite a journey. We installed the lines of progress and spinned the engine of growth by bringing electricity to the industries, communities and households; and, worked together to power and empower the rural communities with the provision of access to safe, reliable and affordable electricity,” he said.
To date, the NEA and its partner ECs have successfully energized 12.447 million households nationwide.
The Philreca-Philfeco Joint Convention and 39th Philreca Annual General Membership Meeting formally opened Thursday with 120 of the 121 ECs nationwide in attendance.
Highlights included the launch of the newly-promulgated training regulations for the TESDA-NEA-EC Electric Power Distribution Line Construction (EPDLC). This developed following a Memorandum of Understanding signed between the NEA administrator and TESDA Director-General Guiling Mamondiong in December last year.
Masongsong expressed hope that the improved EPDLC courses with TESDA would pave the way for the establishment of a Linemen Training Academy in the country.
