[ manilastandardtoday.com ] August 1, 2011
A SINGAPOREAN firm that advocates the use of alternative sources of energy plans to make a depressed village in Muntinlupa City the first self-sustainable community in the country, the city government announced Sunday.
Bioenergy Plantations Pte. Ltd. has chosen Southville 3 in Barangay Poblacion as the model community where solar panels, biofuels production facilities, and possibly windmills, will be put up, city hall spokesman Omar Acosta said.
If plans push through, Southville 3 will be the third self-sustainable village BEP has established after that of G.R. Palli, a poor rural village in Andhra Pradesh, India and another one in Africa.
“Bioenergy Plantations has chosen Muntinlupa as its beneficiary because of our strict pro-environment policies such as the plastic ban ordinance we are enforcing,” Acosta said, referring to Ordinance 10-109 that prohibits the use of plastic and styropor within the city.
On Tuesday, BEP officials, to be led by their chairman and chief executive officer Naren Raju, will turn over to Muntinlupa City Mayor Aldrin San Pedro an initial 30 units of solar-powered bulbs for the use of Southville 3 residents.
Acosta said the solar bulbs will lessen the poor residents’ dependence on electrically-powered light bulbs. The eco-friendly bulbs have their own solar panels and have 70 percent less carbon emission than the regular light bulbs.
BEP will also send a technical team to Southville 3 to assess if the village’s topography is suitable for windmills, which will be the community’s main source of energy in the future.
Southville 3, located within the National Bilibid Prisons reservation, is a relocation site for informal settlers affected by the Rail Link Project Phase 1 of the Philippine National Railways.
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