ILOILO CITY – The city government is promoting the use of renewable energy and is enlisting the help of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) and MORE Electric and Power Corporation, the city’s sole power distributor.
A tripartite agreement for this was signed on Aug. 3 at the City Mayor’s Office – the first outside Luzon and the second among local government units in the country.
Chairperson Monalisa C. Dimalata signed for ERC, Mayor Jerry Treñas for the city government, and President/Chief Executive Officer Roel Z. Castro for MORE Power.
“What we really want to do in ERC is to bring solutions closer to consumers,” said Dimalata.
The Sangguniang Panlungsod backed the tripartite agreement.
“The City Government of Iloilo envisions to be the exemplar of participatory good governance where communities enjoy a high quality of life in a competitive and inclusive economy, ecologically-balanced environment, (and) innovative,” it said in Resolution No. 2023-774 giving Treñas the authority to sign the agreement.
In fact, according to Treñas, the city government has already started the endeavour.
“One of our biggest schools, the Iloilo City National High School, already has solar panels,” he said.
Esplanade 1 and Esplande 2, he added, also use solar street lights, he added.
Treñas also revealed that the city government had bid out for solar panels for city government facilities such as the city hall, dialysis centers, and ICARE centers.
Castro, on the other hand, said MORE Power is aligned with the objectives of the national government such as to reach 50 percent renewable energy mix by 2040.
They are also supportive of the objective to make the city one of the greenest and most sustainable in the Philippines, he stressed.
“One of the obligations under the tripartite agreement is for us to have a one-stop shop where applicants and any interested parties can actually come,” added Castro.
“We host the Office of the Building Official and city engineering at our office. Having ERC now as part of this one-stop shop is a very welcome development,” he said./PN
