Legarda commends the DOE on allowing use of energy funds in COVID-19 fight

Deputy Speaker and Antique Lone District Representative Loren Legarda commends the Department of Energy (DOE) for allowing host LGUs to utilize the Energy Regulation (ER 1-94) Program funds in response to the Covid-19 public health emergency.

DOE, under the law and as part of its mandate, issued ER 1-94, which provides that host communities of energy facilities and/or energy resource developers are entitled to share one centavo per kilowatt-hour (Php 0.01/kWh) of the total electricity sales as financial benefit of the host community. These are the Electrification Fund (EF), Development and Livelihood Fund (DLF) and Reforestation, Watershed Management, Health and/or Environment Enhancement Fund (RWMHEEF). These funds are collectively known as the ER 1-94 funds.

Under the new Department Circular 2020-04-00080, the funds can now be used for mass testing, acquisition of personal protective equipment for frontline workers, provision of cremation and burial services, among many others.

“I laud the DOE, headed by Secretary Alfonso Cusi, in allowing our LGUs to manage part of the energy funds that would help manage and mitigate the adverse effects of the COVID-19 crisis,” Legarda stated.

“I urge LGUs to use these additional resources in the fight against COVID-19. By ensuring that our LGUs have more funds that would support in the control and mitigation of the spread of the disease, I am hoping that we can eventually flatten the curve and beat the disease once and for all,” Legarda concluded.