CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga, Philippines — Officials of the Department of Energy (DoE) announced recently that the national government has allotted of at least P5 billion for electrification of the country’s rural areas.

“Our goal is all about energy access for more for the future generation will be disadvantaged if they have no access to energy. And the more Filipinos we provide power to, the better their future will be,” DoE Secretary Jose Rene Almendras said at the Luzon Energy Summit here last Tuesday.

Almendras emphasized that the move of the government to invest in the rural areas is for the nation’s inclusive growth.

“Inclusive growth is an economic development that will start from the bottom going up. We know that eventually, the investments we made for the countryside will eventually go back to the main population centers,” he explained.

He appealed to the Luzon stakeholders to support the government moves and efforts to provide energy for all.

“Join us in our dream of energy access for more. It’s a very long journey. It will probably take 10 to 15 years before we finally achieve it, but with your help and commitment to this initiative we will be able to ensure the economic liability of the Philippines and the quality of life of future Filipinos from many generations,” he stressed.

Based on the records of the DoE, there are a total of 33 barangays with no power in the country as of December 2011.

Of the three island clusters, Luzon has the most number of powerless villages with 17 followed by Mindanao with 16 and none in Visayas.

DoE eyes 100 percent barangay electrification and 90 percent household electrification by 2017.