NGCP improves water system in Sta. Magdalena, Sorsogon

 Testing the Water. Mr. Nelson Cabangon, NGCP Head of Corporate Affairs (middle), Brgy. San Rafael Chairman Norbie F. Forte (first from left), and Sta. Magdalena Mayor Alejandro E. Gamos (1st from right) at the inauguration of the Communal Water System on June 17, 2013.

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STA. MAGDALENA, SORSOGON, July 9 – For a 5th class municipality like Sta. Magdalena in Sorsogon, access to fundamental services and utilities like water may not be as easy compared to other more developed towns.

Fortunately, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) saw this problem and attended to it by helping one of the barangays in Sta. Magdalena – Brgy. San Rafael – improve their communal water system.

Through NGCP’s Corporate Affairs Department, the local government unit of Brgy. San Rafael requested for the project through a resolution signed by the barangay officials. NGCP, in response,

financed the project to cover the cost of materials and labor needed for the construction.

Before the construction commenced, the existing water system of Brgy. San Rafael cannot reach the far-flung sitios of the barangay. Three sitios with approximately 150 households did not have access to water. To address this, NGCP built a separate water reservoir and extended the water pipes of the existing system for the three sitios.

The system operator was pleased to have helped Brgy. San Rafael. “We responded positively to their request because water, like electricity, is a basic commodity. All communities deserve to have a water system that is clean, serviceable, and reliable,” Mr. Nelson F. Cabangon, NGCP’s Head of Corporate Affairs, stated.

Brgy. San Rafael houses NGCP’s Sta. Magdalena Cable Terminal Station which interfaces the submarine cables and the overhead transmission lines of the High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) link that connects the Luzon grid with the Visayas grid. Aside from interfacing the submarine cables and overhead transmission lines, the station also serves as an oil pumping plant to maintain the pressure and quality of oil used for submarine cables.

NGCP is a privately owned corporation in charge of operating, maintaining, and developing the country’s power grid. It transmits high-voltage electricity through “power superhighways” that include the interconnected system of transmission lines, towers, substations, and related assets. As a responsible corporation, NGCP supports the communities hosting its transmission facilities, which it considers as a true partner in nation-building. (NBautista, NGCP/PIA Sorsogon)