The National Electrification Administration (NEA) is pushing for possible amendments to Republic Act No. 11039, or the Electric Cooperatives Emergency and Resiliency Fund (ECERF), citing the urgent need to adjust the P200-million allocation for the recovery of calamity-hit electric cooperatives (ECs).

According to NEA Deputy Administrator for Technical Services Engr. Ernesto Silvano, Jr., the legally mandated budget is not enough to pay for the repair of the ECs’ damaged facilities during catastrophes.

“𝘞𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘊𝘌𝘙𝘍 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘌𝘊𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘏𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗200-𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘦,” Deputy Administrator Silvano said on Tuesday, 22 April 2025, during the BusinessWorld Insights Forum in Makati.

“𝘈𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 13, 98% 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘥, 𝘺𝘦𝘵 25 𝘌𝘊𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳’𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘴,” the NEA executive added.

The seasoned engineer explained that the ECERF law at present covers only post-disaster restoration efforts, which significantly limits the ability of the NEA to strengthen the resilience of its partner ECs.

“𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘸 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘌𝘊𝘌𝘙𝘍, 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦-𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯,” Engr. Silvano said, referring to measures that may be taken to reduce the impact of environmental hazards on vital structures before they strike.

“𝘉𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘦𝘯𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴, 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘱 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘌𝘊𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵,” the NEA official added.

The ECERF law was based on the consolidated legislations of the House of Representatives and the Senate during the 17th Congress approved by then President Rodrigo Duterte on 29 June 2018.

It was designed to “support and assist, to the fullest extent, electric cooperatives adversely affected by a fortuitous event or by force majeure in order to immediately restore electric service” to residents and communities.

The NEA serves as its implementing organization in consultation with relevant government agencies, ECs, and other stakeholders. ###