Kalahi-CIDSS lights up remote village in Sultan Kudarat

From the Philippine Information Agency (Dec 14): Kalahi-CIDSS lights up remote village in Sultan Kudarat

BAGUMBAYAN, Sultan Kudarat --- Christmas has  literally  become brighter for villagers in the remote community of Kanulay, this town.

Too remote to be  reached  by the national grid, Kanulay  has  for decades  been left  without electricity and it svillagers, mostly Manobo  indigenous people, have  been  reliant  on  kerosene  lamps  as  a source of light at  night.

“We spent more or less, from Php150 to Php200 for our lights,” Non Togue, village leader, recounted.  Incidenttally, Togue’s  house  was burned because of unattended  kerosene  lamp.

Some villagers  had to resorted to an environmentally  damaging and health risky practice of burning  old sacks and plastic   so that they could provide  light  for their children.

Thanks to  the solar home lights project of the Department of Social Welfare and Development,the  village is now  with  electricity.

Through its flagship poverty-reduction programs, Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-A Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services or Kalahi-CIDSS  with  Php 1.7 million funding from World Bank, DSWD 12 has  installed  solar panels on 103 Kanulay homes, providing each with  electricity  without cost and adverse effect to health.

Thus, even when  other places  are experiencing  power curtailment, their homes are well lighted.  At  night, when other places are experiencing  brownout,  houses in Barangay  Kanulay, which is located  on a plateau,  would look like  fireflies on a dark night.

“Many wonder why we have always light while there are power interruptions in the whole town,” Togue said.

Takal Togue, a 67-year old Manobo farmer, did not expect  that in  his lifetime, his house would have  electricity.  The  power from the  solar panels, he added, seemingly extended   the  daylight allowing  him and  his household  more valuable  activities at  night.

Meanwhile, 48-year old Florentina Pimentel noted  that one of the  most  important   benefits  from the  solar panels is allowing  more time  for  their children to study  since  the  traditional kerosene lamps were  replaced by light  bulbs.

“Our lives have been changed here the moment our homes were energized and lighted,” Pimentel said.

Savings  from expenses for kerosene, she added, are now spent   for more  valuable  purposes such  school  needs of  children.

For Jerwin Tiwan, 28, a Manobo father of two and the chairperson of the sub-project management committee in the village, the installation of the solar home system is a big help as it practically offers more livelihood opportunities for them.

With  electricity from solar panels the  the Christmas and  New  Year  celebrations would  definitely be  merrier and  brighter, the  residents  agree.

http://news.pia.gov.ph/article/view/1611450065440/kalahi-cidss-lights-up-remote-village-in-sultan-kudarat