TAGUIG CITY—Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi yesterday (3 March) welcomed the support of the Regional Development Council XII - Infrastructure Development Committee (RDC-IDC XII) in the expeditious implementation of the Local Government Unit Energy Code to maximize benefits from energy projects to the host communities.
“It is indeed a welcome development. We need to expedite the implementation of our various energy projects to propel growth and development, especially in the countryside where majority of our population live,” Secretary Cusi said after receiving the outcome of the virtual RDC-IDC XII meeting on Tuesday (2 March), which was attended by Energy Undersecretary Felix William Fuentebella.
Region XII, formerly known as Central Mindanao, is now known as SOCCSKSARGEN which stands for the administrative region’s four provinces and one highly-urbanized city, namely: South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Saranggani, and General Santos City.
Undersecretary Fuentebella informed Secretary Cusi that the RDC-IDC XII has endorsed to the RDC XII a Resolution enjoining all the LGUs in SOCCSKSARGEN to fully support and adopt the Local Energy Code through the issuance of relevant Local Ordinances during its CY 2021 1st Quarter Virtual Meeting.
Undersecretary Fuentebella, who represented the DOE at the meeting, shared with the participants the salient features of the DOE-Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Joint Memorandum Circular No. 2020-01, otherwise known as the LGU Energy Code. Present were IDC members composed of different national government agencies, private organizations and LGUs in Region XII.
He explained to the participants the vital purpose of the code, which will serve as one of the guiding policies of the LGUs in stimulating total development within their respective areas of jurisdiction.
Instead of highlighting the penalties to be imposed in accordance with the Energy Virtual One-Stop Shop (EVOSS) Act, Undersecretary Fuentebella underscored how such policy would benefit the LGUs.
Currently, both the DOE through the Investment Promotion Office (IPO) and the DILG are reaching out to various RDCs to intensify the conduct of Information, Education and Communication (IEC) campaign on the LGU Energy Code.
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