LUNA, Apayao – The province’s vast track of natural resources is capable of producing more than 5,000 megawatts of renewable energy that will greatly help in providing clean power to the grid, Gov. Elias C. Bulut, Jr. said here recently.
In his message during the visit of President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. to the province last week, Bulut, who is also serving as the chairman of the Regional Development Council (RDC) in the Cordillera, claimed that the development of the province’s rich natural resources to provide adequate supply of clean energy to the Luzon grid will contribute in pump priming the local economy and empower the people to put premium on the preservation and protection of the environment that serves as the main source of renewable energy.
The governor informed the President that the RDC embarked on the development of potential renewable energy sources in the region as its major development agenda to contribute in spurring the region’s economic growth without compromising the state of the environment.
Earlier, Apayao was installed as the 4th United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Biosphere Reserve in the country and the last nature frontier on the Cordillera that warrants the adoption and implementation of sustainable programs, projects and activities to maintain the coveted status.
He said that the provincial government strongly supports the responsible development of the province’s rich natural resources to contribute in significantly increasing the available supply of clean energy which is aligned with the government’s program in increasing the country’s renewable energy supply by at least 35 percent by 2035.
According to him, the development of the province’s renewable energy potentials will surely entice investors to conduct business in the different parts of the province because of the availability of clean and cheap power that will contribute in generating jobs, creating economic activities and stabilizing the sources of livelihood of the people.
Further, he stipulated that Apayao will definitely become one of the most developed provinces in the country aside from having a well preserved and protected environment once the renewable energy potentials of the province shall have been optimized in partnership with responsible renewable energy companies.
The RDC chairman pointed out that there are already available technologies that could be used by renewable energy companies to maximize the potentials of generating clean energy with least effects to the state of the environment in areas that are viable for the put up of the desired plants, thus, the provincial government supports initiatives to put up renewable energy plants in strategic areas around the province that will make the region a major producer of clean power.
Apayao is one of the least developed provinces in the region but it is blessed with rich natural resources such as wildlife and lush forests that is serving as a major source of water providing the needed supply for the major river systems flowing to the nearby Cagayan province.
Moreover, indigenous peoples from the different parts of the province were able to preserve the environment through the age-old practice of the ‘lapat’ system or the traditional forest conservation efforts that had been passed on to generations. By Dexter A. See
