TUBA—Some 875 residents in seven sitios of Barangay Camp 3, in Tuba, have benefitted from a P7.6-million electrification project sponsored by Philex Mining Corp. that was one of its social projects in the communities outlying its Padcal operations.
The project, which has run for two years, was carried out by the miner’s Padcal operations in coordination with the Benguet Electric Cooperative (Beneco), which oversaw quality control of the materials used as well as the orientation of residents on the safety measures pertaining to electricity.
Padcal’s community relations (ComRel) department said last March marked the P1.6-million secondary-line connection of the third batch of households in the barangay, which now enjoys electricity though in a far-flung area of Tuba town.
Last year, Philex Mining spent P5 million on the secondary lines for the second batch of households, and P1 million in 2014.
Between the later part of 2014 and the first quarter of this year, the sitios of Bastian, Kimmabab, Allapang, Alang, Camait, Torre and Balayan were beneficiaries of the project, which includes the installation of electric posts, wires and power lines.
Albert Wayan Jr., municipal engineer of Tuba, said “we admit that governments in the barangay and municipal levels cannot address all the needs of their constituents, so we are glad that Philex Mining is here to help us.”
The community leader Norma Marcelo said the project has been of great help to residents, especially for students who do their homework at night. “With electricity, our children are able to prepare for their school the following day with more ease as compared to when they used kerosene lamps while doing their assignments,” she stressed.
ComRel said Philex Mining has been faithful in fulfilling its duty to the host and neighboring communities through the implementation of various social projects under the government-mandated Social Development and Management Program.
It was also Philex Mining that installed in 2011 the electric power distribution system in Sitio Bastian from which the secondary lines are connected to the tune of P7 million, as well as a water-pump system in the sub-sitio of Caluminga.
