All three barangays of Mahanay Island off Getafe town will soon get electricity 24/7.
Rep. Erico Aristotle Aumentado (Bohol, 2nd District) has broke ground in the island for the P37-million submarine cable project expected to bring power – and with it, development – from Bohol mainland.
Aumentado said the technology is like the Leyte-Bohol Interconnection Project (LBIP) Stages 1 and 2 that brought power from the Tongonan Geothermal Power Plant in Leyte that his namesake father and immediate congressional predecessor Erico Boyles Aumentado had shepherded from conception and gestation up until realization.
The Mahanay interconnection project is funded by the National Electrification Administration (NEA). The Bohol II Electric Cooperative, Inc. (Boheco II) that was notified by NEA on the available fund, will install the cable as well as distribute power to the island that will benefit 764 households in barangays Mahanay in Talibon and Mahanay and Alumar in Getafe.
The project forms part of Aumentado’s total electrification project for the 2nd district’s 35 islands. The solon said he has been addressing the lack of electricity even before it surfaced as one of the problems identified by the 100-strong population of the district among the 400 respondents of the Bohol Poll 2015 ran March 26 to April 17 by the Holy Name University Center for Research and Publications.
The solon said development can set in only when power is available. Power enables fishermen to keep part of their catch to sell during full moons when fish is scarce and the demand is strong, or during stormy weather.
Without power, fishermen are constrained to sell their catch cheap, especially if abundant, rather than risk spoilage.
In case electrification via submarine cable of an island barangay comes out too expensive, Aumentado said the Small Power Utilities Group (Spug) will come in with power barges, even if with limited supply, like from 6 p.m. to 5 a.m. the following day, or even shorter.
Aumentado the son admits it is difficult to fit into the shoes of his visionary father. In fact, he said, he is only bringing to reality the dreams for the district and the province his father had started to plan or implement.
But Bohol Poll 2015 figures show that his constituents now recognize his efforts as congressman in his own right and not just a shadow of his father.
Sympathy votes may have swung the electoral fight in his favor when he ran as replacement candidate for his father who died at the height of the campaign in 2013.
The latest round of polls however, gave him a net satisfaction rating of +63 which is a leap of 11 points over last year.
His counterpart in the 1st District improved only by one point while his counterpart in the third district dipped seven points compared to Bohol 2014 figures.(JUNE S. BLANCO)