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Electricity has reached 101 households in two remote Ilocos Norte communities, highlighting the final-mile challenges facing the country as the government pushes to achieve full household electrification before the end of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s term in 2028.
The latest connections cover 66 households with 99 residents in Barangay Bagut, Dingras, and 35 households with 43 residents in Barangay 16, Sarrat. Before the project, families in the two sitios relied on charging stations elsewhere to access electricity.
The connections form part of the continuing rural electrification work of the Ilocos Norte Electric Cooperative (INEC), which is addressing pockets of households that remain without individual power connections despite the province’s 559 barangays being classified as 100% energized.
INEC general manager Cipriano “Perry” Martinez III said the remaining gaps are typically found in isolated sitios where only a handful of homes may still be without electricity.
While these households represent a small share of the province’s population, extending service to them can be considerably more difficult because of their location and the limited number of potential connections in each area.
“For a remote household, electricity is not a luxury – it is an opportunity,” Martinez said.
Last-Mile Challenge
The Ilocos Norte project illustrates why achieving universal electrification is not simply a matter of declaring an area energized.
A barangay may be considered fully energized while individual homes in distant sitios remain outside the grid or lack household-level connections. For these families, the absence of reliable electricity can affect basic activities such as studying, food storage and the operation of small businesses.
The latest beneficiaries previously had to depend on charging facilities to power devices and access electricity. Bringing connections directly to their homes gives them a more reliable source of power and expands the practical benefits of electrification beyond basic lighting.
Barangay Bagut chief Marcelo Castillo said the project would improve residents’ access to resources and daily services. Barangay 16 chief Manuelito Agoto, meanwhile, pointed to the benefit for students, who can now study under better conditions at home.
The two village officials expressed their appreciation during a ceremonial switch-on at INEC’s main branch in Dingras, where representatives of the beneficiary households gathered to mark the completion of the project.
The event coincided with the 109th birth anniversary of former President Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr., whom INEC cited in connection with the country’s rural electrification program.
Policy Push
The cooperative’s work traces back to Presidential Decree No. 269, signed in 1973, which transformed the National Electrification Administration into a corporation tasked with organizing, promoting, and developing electric cooperatives as part of the government’s goal of nationwide electricity coverage.
More than five decades later, the government is still working to close the remaining gaps in household access.
Energy Secretary Sharon S. Garin earlier said that the Department of Energy (DoE) and NEA were pursuing several approaches to accelerate household energization, including microgrid systems, solarized homes and faster grid connections.
“Just a little more and we’ll be close to 100%,” Garin said in a speech last year.
She also framed electrification as a long-term economic investment, saying, “For every one peso the government spends on electrification, we get four pesos in return. So, it’s an investment for us and for our children.”
The national target gained further urgency after President Marcos directed the DoE and NEA during his fourth State of the Nation Address in July 2025 to accelerate efforts to fully electrify the country before the end of his term in 2028.
The challenge now is reaching households that are increasingly difficult and costly to serve through conventional grid expansion.
For communities located far from existing distribution lines, the government and electric cooperatives may need to weigh traditional connections against alternatives such as solar home systems and microgrids. The appropriate solution will depend on distance, terrain, household density, and the cost of extending distribution infrastructure.
For Ilocos Norte, the connection of 101 households is therefore both a local service milestone and a small piece of a greater national effort. The remaining task is no longer simply expanding electricity coverage across broad areas, but finding practical ways to bring dependable power to the last homes still waiting for it.
Source:
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/128391
https://thechronicle.com.ph/power-finally-reaches-isolated-ilocos-norte-households/