The Department of Energy is calling on local government units (LGUs) in Western Visayas to comply with the Government Energy Management Program, mandated under the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act.

In a media conference on Thursday, DOE Visayas Energy Resource Development and Utilization Division Chief Lourdes Arciaga said they are now going massive with their spot-checking in Western Visayas to determine compliance and expect to complete it by next year.

Among the strategies pushed under the GEMP are adopting energy efficiency and conservation (EEC) measures and practices to reduce electricity and fuel consumption and employ renewable energy systems.
LGUs should also establish their Energy Efficiency and Conservation Office (EECO).

As of Dec. 31 last year, they spot-checked 61 of the 139 LGUs in the region.

Of the 139 LGUs, the results showed that only 42 have EECO, 61 have active GEMP online accounts, 10 issued EEC measures, 30 submitted their electricity consumption, and 15 reported fuel utilization.

“We are campaigning for them to be compliant,” Arciaga said.

She also lauded LGUs with excellent compliance to GEMP, including the towns of Batad, Dueñas, Leganes, and Mina, all in Iloilo, with scores ranging from 88 percent to 100 percent, equivalent to a five-star rating.

Pavia has high compliance or four-star rating, while the LGUs of Tapaz in Capiz and Salvador Benedicto and Isabela in Negros Occidental have acceptable compliance or three stars.

Meanwhile, engineer Jeriel Militar from the Central Philippine University said they implemented the knowledge empowerment activity in Western Visayas with fund support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Energy Secure Philippines.

“One of the deliverables of this project is to help local government units, to capacitate them, orient them on the GEMP requirements. The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act was passed in 2019, but due to the pandemic, there was a slowdown in its implementation,” he said.

Militar said that as of late 2023, a lot of LGUs have not implemented the GEMP, they rolled out the knowledge empowerment activity to orient LGUs about the program.

Already, they have done orientation and workshops in LGUs in Panay Island, and the latest was in Guimaras on Aug. 28.

Arciaga said compliance with the energy efficiency program would mean a reduction in their fuel and electricity consumption, translating to savings. (PNA)