WHAT'S NEW? Laiban PitchBlack Nights - Kimberlie Anne S. Austria
Places in Laiban, Tanay, are only half an hour away from the main road but don't have electricity and mobile coverage access.
Photograph by: KATHLEEN LEI LIMAYO
Rizal is known as a powergenerating province. The Malaya Thermal Power Plant of the NAPOCOR, one of the primary energy sources for the Luzon grid, is located. The first Luzonbased windmill with 27 turbines can also be seen in the province's heart – Pililla, Rizal. The province was also historically the pioneer in communication technology in the Philippines, as this is where the first communication satellite, "PHILCOMSAT," was established in the 1970s. This communication facility has broken down barriers, allowing the Philippines to actively engage Page 9
in the highly developed communication system across lands and oceans through telephone, broadcasting, fax, and other satellite communications services. In contrast to this advancement, the indigenous members of the Dumagat-Remontado tribe who lives in Brgy. Laiban, Tanay, Rizal have been without electricity for five decades. The residents started buying their personal solar panels in 2014 to help them through their daily living, retiring from pitch-black nights. For decades, the residents survived through gasoline lamps and THE EQUILIBRIUM
After a few years, the residents can differentiate how it's easier to live with a power supply. Dumagat children are now growing up with reduced difficulties compared to what their parents endured. Commissioner Rachel Herrera of the Climate Change Commission (CCC) stated that the Dumagat tribe serves as a good model to inspire the provision of assistance for other off-grid communities in rural areas so that they may access renewable and sustainable energy, while helping improve the government's electrification targets. By March 2021 when only the government initiated installing 14 solar panels on the classroom's roof of Laiban Integrated School under the Project-Araw Aral lead by Jemar Maldia, an electrical engineer. The installed solar panel enables teachers to print modules for remote learning of the students. Apart from electric mobility, teachers and parents are hoping for sufficient internet access so students can access quality active learning materials. Additional solar panels are being donated to the Dumagat tribe of Laiban by an increasing number of organizations. The solar panels help residents light their homes and give them the
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