BAGUIO CITY — The Department of Energy (DOE) sees the need to put up a satellite office in Baguio City to cater to the numerous issues confronting the energy industry in the different parts of the Cordilleras.
This is in preparation for the proposed establishment of the department’s regional office in the administrative region in the future, which is still awaiting approval.
Reynaldo Ligamor, officer-in-charge of the DOE Luzon field office based in Urdaneta City, Pangasinan, said this during the recent Consumer Welfare Month.
Ligamor said the DOE leadership has considered the proposal of congressmen from the Cordillera to initially establish a satellite office in Baguio. This is pending the establishment of a permanent Cordillera regional office for them to immediately attend to issues related to the mandate of the energy department.
He said the agency’s Luzon field office is supportive of the long overdue clamor of Cordillerans for a regional office but it is best to start with a satellite office to oversee the agency’s affairs in the region. The establishment of its regional office will continue to be worked out with their national office.
Ligamor recognized the importance of a satellite office in any part of the region to ease transactions by officials and residents.
At present, it is the DOE office in Pangasinan that caters to the Cordillerans’ issues raised to the department.
During the third quarter meeting of the Cordillera Regional Development Council (RDC), several resolutions requesting the DOE leadership to establish its regional office in the Cordillera were discussed as leaders see the need to immediately address the numerous issues and concerns being hurled against the department, specifically the higher oil prices in the city compared to the lowlands.
This is aside from the requirement for free, prior and informed consent for renewable energy developers from indigenous peoples impacted by the DOE’s proposed projects.
In the launching activity of the Consumer Welfare Month last week, Ligamor appealed for the local officials’ patience as they move for the establishment of a satellite office prior to a permanent and complete regional office set-up. (Liza Agoot/PNA)
