Geothermal leader Energy Development Corporation (EDC) has spread Christmas cheer and positive energy in the Municipality of Valencia in Negros Oriental on December 12 by turning over six community projects and lighting up the town’s 20-meter high Christmas tree with the rest of the Valencianons at their town plaza.
EDC turned over the six community projects that it has completed under its Health, Education, Livelihood and Environment (HELEn) program this 2015, EDC said in a media release.
These six projects are: gym bleachers for Barangay Caidiocan proper’s covered gym; a water system for Barangay Malaunay’s Barangay Agricultural Development Center (BADC); street lights for the road from Dumaguete-Palinpinon boundary going to Barangay Caidiocan for Barangay Palinpinon; a 100-meter concrete road for Barangay Malabo; and a pre-school building for Dobdob Elementary School for Barangay Dobdob and for Badiang Primary School in Sitio Badiang, Barangay Pulangbato. Barangay captains Alexander Rubio (Barangay Malabo); Raquel Gallofin (Barangay Palinpinon); Los Santos Russell (Barangay Malaunay); Gualberto Darias (Barangay Dobdob); Antonio Tuting (Barangay Caidiocan); and Amancia Oroy (Barangay Pulangbato) gave a short message to express their heartfelt gratitude to EDC for these projects.
Following the turnover of projects was the giant Christmas tree lighting ceremony, which EDC has been supporting for the past three years. Prior to the lighting, a thanksgiving mass and inauguration of the Nativity scene were held.
There was also a short program with special performances from Valencia Central Elementary School. Valencia Mayor Edgar Y. Teves gave his appreciation message to EDC for being their partner in progress since the time that it was still a government-owned and controlled corporation in the ‘80s up to now. He also graciously accepted the responsibility of managing the giant Christmas tree in the coming years.
The giant Christmas tree lighting ceremony was a much-awaited event in the town as residents trooped to the venue to feel the joy of Christmas.
“This event is also meaningful to us, in EDC, because we get to join the Valencianons as they give thanks to our merciful Lord for all the blessings we have received. This includes the abundant source of clean, renewable geothermal energy in Valencia that has been powering Negros Oriental and various parts of Visayas for almost 40 years now,” said Norreen G. Bautista, head of EDC’s Community Partnerships, External Relations, and Watershed Management (CREW) group in Negros Island. Her team coordinated with all the other groups that worked together for this project.
Aside from employees of EDC in Negros Oriental, this project was made possible by the help of the Mother Butler’s Guild of the Parish of Our Lady of Abandandoned, the star inmates of the Negros Oriental Provincial Jail, members of the Southern Negros Cooperative, the Parish Pastoral Council, the Sangguniang Barangay, the Department of Education, the parish priests of Valencia, the Southern Negros Farmers’ Cooperative, and other Valencianons who all volunteered to put up the tree and set-up the Belen. (PNA)
