Phillipines’ energy secretary Sharon Garin has called on the country’s electric co-ops to work with the government to help achieve total electrification by 2028.
Garin, who was speaking at the 56th founding anniversary of the National Electrification Administration (NEA) and 16th National Electrification Awareness Month at SMX Convention Center on 7 August, said the Department of Energy and NEA needed the sector’s support to achieve total electrification.
Her remarks echoed president Marcos’s fourth State of the Nation Address in July, where he revealed the government’s aim to provide electricity to at least 1 million more homes through solar power in the next three years, particularly in the provinces of Quezon, Camarines Norte, Palawan, Masbate, Samar, Negros Occidental and Zamboanga del Sur.
“This is not a mere target,” Garin said. “It is a mandate rooted in our shared commitment to equitable development, inclusive progress that we must fulfill. For decades, NEA, together with our ECs, has stood at the forefront of nation-building.
“The message of our president was very clear. DOE and NEA will pursue and fulfill the target number of households to be electrified this year until 2028.”
Neither the DOE nor the NEA can achieve the target without the sector’s support, she added.
“You are what DOE and NEA need. This is a message not only for DOE, not only for NEA, but for each and every person today. We will reach, we have to reach, and we are directed to reach – total electrification by 2028,” she said.
Both the DOE and president recognise the complexity and difficulty of electric co-ops’s role in delivering reliable, affordable, and sustainable electricity, particularly in underserved areas, said Garin, “but we are confident that through unity, perseverance and innovation, we can rise above all these challenges.”
Homes that have access to electricity are able to boost their incomes, she noted: for households involved in agriculture, production increases by 22% as a result of electrification.
The meeting also heard from NEW administrator Antonio Mariano Almeda, who talked about the limitations of the national budget.
“However, I am committed to our mission,” he insisted. “Our agency will do everything in its power to realise our President’s vision for the country. Powering the future doesn’t simply mean connecting homes, it means being able to support the industrial development of our nation.“
Co-ops will be working with the NEW and the DOE in 2026 to make improvements to distribution and sub-transmission lines, he confirmed.
According to the state Philippine News Agency, the meeting was followed by an informal discussion during which Vivant Energy Corporation president Emil Garcia warned it would take both public leadership and private initiative to make rural electrification happen.
“Rural electrification is not just about energy,“ he said. “It is about equity, it is about dignity, it’s about giving people the power to learn, earn, and grow without having to leave their communities behind.”
Over 98% of the country’s population has access to electricity, according to World Bank data.
