First Gen’s Energy Development Corporation (EDC) has expanded its educational assistance program to benefit more than 5,000 public elementary school learners in its host communities in Negros Oriental and Negros Occidental.
EDC Negros Corporate Relations Department head Erwin Magallanes said the expansion is being implemented through the company’s Adopt-a-School program under its banner education initiative Sikat.
The program, which previously covered only the host barangays of Caidiocan, Puhagan, and Malaunay in Valencia, Negros Oriental, now includes additional schools in neighboring villages.
“Through our Adopt-a-School Program with the Department of Education, we will be able to support an additional 1,000 beneficiaries across other barangays in the municipality of Valencia,” Magallanes told the Philippine News Agency July 7.
Sikat has been EDC’s flagship education program since 1993, providing scholarships for higher education and supplemental educational assistance to learners in communities hosting the company’s geothermal facilities. Magallanes said many of the program’s former beneficiaries have gone on to become successful professionals.
For this school year, EDC has allocated P1.475 million for the distribution of school supplies to 5,099 elementary learners in 19 public schools across the Negros Island Region. Of the total, 2,200 learners are from 13 schools in Negros Oriental, while 2,899 are from six schools in Negros Occidental.
The first round of distribution in Valencia was conducted from June 22 to 30, with another scheduled this month. Distribution in Negros Occidental is underway this week.
Among the recipients is Nasuji Elementary School teacher April Kate Maglinao, who said she was once an EDC beneficiary during her elementary and high school years.
“EDC has been supporting us from then until now, and for that, we are truly grateful,” she said.
Nerie Nuay, president of the General Parents-Teachers Association of Dungga Primary School in Barangay Malaunay, said the donated school supplies would ease the financial burden of many families.
“These supplies give the children pride and confidence in their studies,” she said.
EDC, a subsidiary of First Gen Corporation, operates the 221.9-megawatt Southern Negros Geothermal Project in Valencia.
Magallanes said the educational assistance program complements the company’s other community development initiatives, including the remittance of P7.8 million this year to host communities under the Department of Energy’s Energy Regulation (ER) 1-94 program.
Under the enhanced ER 1-94 program, the remittance rate was increased from one centavo to three centavos per kilowatt-hour of electricity generated and sold, resulting in higher financial benefits for host communities. ||
