DOE Secretary Alfonso Cusi
MANILA – The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) has issued a total of 124,878 identification cards to energy personnel as of Monday, the Department of Energy (DOE) said.
Some 68,506 IATF IDs were released to energy workers in the downstream oil industry, which include oil refineries, petroleum product distributors, and retail outlets.
Another 55,160 personnel in the power sector and renewable energy industry players were allowed to work during the enhanced community quarantine.
Some 643 IDs in the petroleum industry and 569 IDs in the coal industry were also issued by the IATF.
Energy personnel who were allowed to go to work during the quarantine period include engineers, drivers, linemen and technicians, power plant personnel, contractors, gasoline station personnel, delivery personnel, and market and system operators.
The IATF allowed some operations in the energy sector to continue providing services to consumers, particularly uninterrupted power supply.
“Energy is a basic necessity. Hence, the DOE is closely coordinating with all government agencies, local government units, and other energy industry service providers for the continued delivery of energy services to the public,” the DOE earlier said.
Meanwhile, Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi announced on Wednesday that the department is tapping the Energy Regulations 1-94 (ER 1-94) Program fund to strengthen measures in fighting the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
Under the ER 1-94 program, host communities to energy generation facilities and/or energy resource development are entitled to PHP0.01 per kilowatt-hour of the total electricity sales of generation companies and energy resource developers to finance electrification, livelihood, and development projects.
The use of the ER 1-94 fund for Covid-19 response aims to help provide host LGUs sufficient, adequate, and readily available funding to undertake their duty to mitigate, if not contain, Covid-19 in their respective areas, and provide them with a doable and efficient manner of disposition and use of such funds.
"For our country to effectively and efficiently 'flatten the curve', we must ensure that all our local government units have the resources that would aid in containing, mitigating, and eventually eliminating the spread of Covid-19 in their respective jurisdictions. Releasing available ER 1-94 funds to host communities would definitely add an additional boost to their ongoing efforts to combat the disease," Cusi said. (PNA)
