Access to electricity

AboitizPower brings light to Brgy. Malabog in Davao City

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Students and business owners in Barangay Malabog, Davao City are able to progress as accessible electric power finally reaches their homes and establishments.

Mitch Balbuena, 14, dreams of being a teacher but initially found it hard to focus on her studies, relying on intermittent power from solar panels and, at nighttime, gas lamps.

Meanwhile, vegetable stall owner Bebina Lucena previously had no choice but to operate her store without electricity, depriving her of the benefits of refrigeration. This left her to shoulder the higher cost of making frequent three-hour trips just to buy blocks of ice from the distant marketplace.

While solar panels did find their way in Barangay Malabog in 2019, the technology was limited in supporting a continuous supply of electricity, weakening or even disappearing whenever it rained, was cloudy, or when it was already dark.

Greater electrification of the area was challenged by the peace and order situation, which was finally addressed in 2022 when the entire Davao Region was declared “insurgency-free”.

The improved situation prompted Davao Light and Power Company (Davao Light), a distribution utility of Aboitiz Power Corporation, to begin the sitio electrification program in Barangay Malabog in the same year, installing power lines and the other necessary infrastructure. Since then, out of the 82 sitios in Barangay Malabog, 70 have been energized.

“Pagdating ng kuryente dito, yung mga liblib na purok at sitio may mga tindahan na, may mga resort na, so malaking factor talaga yung kuryente kase yun ang kailangan ng tao,” said Malabog Barangay Captain Jessielito Areja. (When electricity arrived, the remote areas suddenly had stores, there were resorts, so electricity is really a big factor because that’s what people need).