First Gen Hydro Power Corp. of the Lopez Group pledged P33 million in financial support to help the local government of Pantabangan in Nueva Ecija complete the town’s water supply and distribution system.
First Gen Hydro officials led by president and chief operating officer Victor Emmanuel Santos Jr. signed on Oct. 8 a virtual memorandum of agreement with Pantabangan town officials led by Mayor Roberto Agdipa to formalize the company’s commitment to the water service project.
Also joining the virtual MOA signing ceremony were First Gen Hydro executive vice president Richard Tantoco, vice president Dennis Gonzales and assistant vice president and plant head Richard Difuntorum.
Witnessing the signing on the side of the local government unit were Vice Mayor Monaliza Agdipa, members of the town’s council and heads of departments of the LGU.
First Gen Hydro is a subsidiary of First Gen Corp., the country’s leading clean and renewable energy company controlled by the Lopez Group through First Philippine Holdings Corp.
Under the MOA, First Gen Hydro agreed to donate P33 million to help the LGU-run Pantabangan Municipal Water System conduct well drilling and construction of water sources; the renovation of PMWS’ pump station control house; and the expansion of PMWS water lines going to individual households.
The town, located 160 kilometers north of Manila, serves as host to the 132-megawatt Pantabangan-Masiway hydroelectric power plant complex that First Gen Hydro owns and operates.
The P33-million donation will come on top of First Gen Hydro’s community relations program allocation and its P50.87-million total remittances to the Pantabangan town under Energy Regulation No. 1-94. (ER 1-94) of the Department of Energy.
ER 1-94 mandates power generation companies to set aside 1 centavo out of every kilowatt-hour of electricity they generate for the benefit of local government units hosting the power plants. The host LGUs tap the ER 194 remittances to fund their own electrification, livelihood, reforestation, watershed management, health and environment enhancement projects.
Pantabangan LGU projects that have so far been funded by its share from FG Hydro’s ER 1-94 remittances included the rehabilitation of the town’s municipal electric system.