A multi-party agreement has formally permitted the proximate indigenous community at the 100-megawatt Binga power plant in Itogon, Benguet to manage some areas around the facility’s site, hence, manifesting the worth given to host communities as co-stakeholders in power project developments.

“The indigenous community of Barangay Tinongdan in Itogon, Benguet can now formally manage certain areas near the Binga power plant,” project owner and operator SN Aboitiz Power (SNAP)-Benguet has noted in a press statement.

Key signatories to the multi-party pact bestowing such privilege to the community are Benguet Governor Nestor B. Fongwan, SNAP chief executive officer Emmanuel V. Rubio and Director Amador P. Batay-an of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples-Cordillera Region.

They were joined by other local officials as well as representatives from the state-run National Power Corporation and Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation.