The Cotabato Electric Cooperative (Cotelco), Inc. is 90 percent complete in energizing 840 households in far-flung villages under the PHP5.5-million Sitio Electrification Program (SEP) since January this year, an official said Monday.

“SEP intends to reach unenergized families in remote villages and to deliver sustainable development to the countryside as a whole,” said Joel de Guzman, Jr., Cotelco’s general manager, in an interview.

De Guzman said the national government funded the program through the National Electrification Administration last year, and it is set to end this month.

“SEP aims to energize homes in off-grid communities, mostly in the hinter mountainous part of the province, to improve the quality of life and achieve sustainable rural development,” he said.

The SEP project involves building new electric lines. Each beneficiary receives free electrical materials, and the lines are installed free of charge.

Cotelco, on the other hand, will only collect a PHP112 inspection fee and PHP5 for the membership fee, as well as additional drop wire.

De Guzman said the indigenous peoples (IP) communities in the area are the main beneficiaries.

Lourdes Ambat, a tribal leader, compared the village’s electrification to having “a daily fiesta celebration.”

Ambat said they had persistently lobbied with local officials for decades.

De Guzman said SEP was implemented in coordination with the local government units, which facilitated requirements and waived local permits.

The household recipients include 40 in Kidapawan City and in nine towns, including Arakan (160 households), Carmen (60), Kabacan (120), Makilala (60), Magpet (75), Matalam (105), M’lang (100), President Roxas (50), and Tulunan (70).

Cotelco serves Kidapawan City, the capital of Cotabato province, and the towns in the second and third congressional districts. (PNA)