Progress comes from struggle. In the Island Garden City of Samal, Davao del Norte, that struggle centers on securing a stable power supply.
City officials, led by Mayor Al David Uy, believe Davao Light and Power Co. can provide the needed reliability. A bill expanding Davao Light’s franchise, awaiting President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s signature, would include Samal, Tagum, and several other towns and provinces in Davao del Norte and Davao de Oro.
The proverbial light at the end of the tunnel shines with the projected enactment of a bill expanding the franchise coverage of Davao Light and Power Co. which needs only the signature of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to become a law.
The expansion is expected to affect current supplier Northern Davao Electric Cooperative (Nordeco), as it would lose a large portion of its customer base. Residents have long complained of frequent power outages.
Pending enactment of the measure, the Samal City government disbursed P300 million for a submarine cable project that would eventually link the resort island to Davao Light.
Uninterrupted power supply and development of the water systems on the island highlighted by the establishment of solar power plants in partnership with Chinese investors has been on Uy’s table since he took over the helm of the city government in 2016.
In furtherance of Samal’s power quest, Uy presided on Feb. 6 the launch of a P500-kilovolt-ampere grid-tie renewable energy project.
The project will power city hall, the police station and other facilities, and double as a parking area for about 150 vehicles.
In his state of the city address on March 5, 2024, Uy underscored the city government’s initiatives on healthcare services, notably the acquisition of mobile X-rays for the Talikud Polyclinic to meet seemingly daunting challenges in public health.
He also cited the establishment of a state college in the city that offers various tertiary programs.
Samal, under Uy’s administration, is also dead serious in environmental protection and preservation. Volunteers and stakeholders from the barangays, national agencies, non- government organizations and civic associations joined the coastal clean-up drive held on Jan. 24, 2025 at Villarica Baywalk going to Babak Market.
The event, spearheaded by the City Environment and Natural Resources Office, was in celebration of the Zero Waste Month with this year’s theme; “Integrating Sustainability and Circularity into the Informal Waste Sector”.
Going back to the power issue, Uy claimed that Nordeco’s performance has cost Samal P120 million annually, with losses affecting tourism, businesses, households, agriculture and public services. Nordeco’s P12.56 per kilowatt-hour rate is also higher than Davao Light’s P9.21 per kWh, as cited by Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri in Senate Bill 2888.