The Antique provincial board will request the National Electrification Administration (NEA) to energize Sitio Gahit (hamlet) of Barangay Aningalan in the municipality of San Remigio which hosts the province’s demonstration farm for high-value crops.

The demonstration farm for lettuce, cabbage and pepper has seven greenhouses established in 2021.

Antique provincial board member Karmila Rose Dimamay, during their regular session on Monday, underscored the need to have Gahit energized because the greenhouses only rely on generator sets to sustain the provision of water and lighting needs, which is too costly.

Antique Electric Cooperative (Anteco) general manager Neal Peter Veñegas said they included Sitio Gahit in the 45 sitios they proposed for the Sitio Electrification Program (SEP) of NEA this year.

However, the PHP70 million downloaded by NEA for SEP implementation covered only 23 sitios, and Gahit was not included.

“We need at least PHP6 million for the electrification in Sitio Gahit, which is about three kilometers away from Barangay Aningalan Proper,” said Veñegas in an audience with the provincial board.

The provincial board will pass a resolution to formalize their request to NEA next week.

IP youth urged to preserve culture, tradition

Meanwhile, a series of capability workshops targeting 500 Iraynon Bukidnon and Ati indigenous people (IP) are conducted by the Antique Provincial Youth Development Office (PYDO) to raise awareness of the importance of preserving their culture, tradition and values.

“We encourage the IP youth to pursue their education considering that the province has the educational assistance provided for them,” said PYDO head Irish Manlapaz in an interview.

Workshops were conducted in the towns of Laua-an, Libertad, and Anini-y on July 26 to 28 and in Hamtic and Tobias Fornier towns this week. (PNA)