Therma Visayas provides COVID-19 relief to Toledo residents
True to its promise of advancing business and communities, AboitizPower subsidiary Therma Visayas, Inc. (TVI) recently completed the turnover of direct benefits to its host beneficiaries, helping provide timely relief to residents during the pandemic.
To date, TVI has downloaded Energy Regulations (ER 1-94) funds worth P5.9 million to Toledo City and another P4.3 million to its host community of Barangay Bato.
These funds have been utilized to support the city’s programs in its fight against COVID-19 and to provide relief goods to over 3,200 families within the host barangay.
Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi, who was informed about the company’s recent undertaking, thanked AboitizPower and TVI for ensuring that the utilization of their ER 1-94 funds will truly reach the grassroots and benefit those who need assistance the most in this time of COVID-19 pandemic.
“At the onset of the COVID-19 crisis in the country, we have issued Department Circular No. DC2020-04-0008, to help local government units by providing policy guidelines on the utilization of the available ER 1-94 Funds to be used in managing the effects of pandemic, in accordance with Republic Act 11469, or the ‘Bayanihan to Heal as One Act,’” Secretary Cusi noted.
“I thank AboitizPower and its subsidiary TVI for its assistance to the people of Toledo City and Barangay Bato. The Php 10.2 million worth of relief goods, disinfectants, Anti Covid Machine and equipment and other assistance will go a long way for their residents and its front liner who are struggling amidst this pandemic,” he said.
For his part, Bato Barangay Captain Rosalio Cereño said, “We sincerely thank Therma Visayas and AboitizPower for these funds. This is really a big help to our barangay, especially that the pandemic happened.”
Through these funds, Cereño said they were able to provide 25 sacks of rice per household to all households in the barangay.
Toledo City’s 38 barangays and over 170,000 will also benefit from the ER 1-94 funds through the initiatives of the city government.
“The city is very grateful for the assistance from Therma Visayas and AboitizPower especially on the ER 1-94 funds given to the City of Toledo. TVI is the first to extend their assistance to the city and rest assured that we will be transparent with all the funds that they have given to the city and those that we planned to do with the assistance,” Toledo City Mayor Marjorie Perales shared.
Perales added that the funds were used to help provide personal protective equipment to frontline workers as well as relief goods to residents and agri-fishery inputs to farmers.
The ER 1-94 program is a policy under the Department of Energy (DOE) Act of 1992 and Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 (EPIRA) which stipulates that host communities will get a share of one centavo for every kilowatt-hour (P0.01/kWh) of the total electricity sales of power generation companies operating in its area. Through DOE Department Circular 2018-08-0021, power generation companies can now directly download the ER 1-94 funds to their host communities. Streamlining the release of funding will ease the process of implementing projects that benefit the host communities.
Along with the contributions for Toledo City and Barangay Bato, TVI continues to support the development of the city and its host barangay through health missions and other projects identified in its Corporate Social Responsibility programs.
AboitizPower subsidiary Therma Visayas, Inc. is the operator of the 340-megawatt Toledo Baseload Power Plant located in Brgy. Bato, Toledo City, Cebu. TVI is certified in three ISO standards, namely Quality Management (ISO 9001:2015), Environmental Management (ISO 14001:2015), Occupational Health and Safety Management (OHSAS 45001:2018). The facility is an 80-20 joint venture between Aboitiz Power Corporation and Vivant, Corp. respectively. Together with Therma Luzon, Inc. and Therma South, Inc., the three primarily compose the Coal Business Unit of AboitizPower.
